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Colorful Crayon Animals by Herb Williams Illustrate Impacts of the Climate Crisis
Art#animals
#climate change
#crayons
#sculpturesAugust 17, 2021
Grace EbertDetail of “Phantom Limb(s).” All images by John Brown, © Herb Williams, shared with permission
Bolstering his ongoing body of work confronting the climate crisis, two new sculptures by Nashville-based artist Herb Williams (previously) address the interconnected impacts of environmental catastrophe and disastrous human consumption from the perspective of animals. A fawn, a pair of narwhals, and a small arctic fox compose the colorful menagerie, with a melting chunk of a glacier, cut branches, and sliced tree trunk completing the crayon-based ecosystems. The artist’s works are particularly timely following the IPCC’s bleak report earlier this month and recent climate-related tragedies, like fires ripping across California and Utah, Greece, and Siberia and a tropical storm that hit Haiti just days after the country was devasted by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake.
Both of Williams’ pieces rely equally on subject matter and medium to convey the urgency of the issues, as with the bands of color embedded within the fawn’s legs and hunks of wood in “Phantom Limb(s).” Bold, vibrant stripes illustrate the animals’ interpretations of deforestation and the potential for synesthesia, a condition allowing sounds to manifest visually. “The growth rings travel on as a sort of sonar after the tree is cut, and the animals see and hear the ripple effect as the loss is felt throughout the forest,” Williams says.
Similarly in the tusk-framed piece titled “Adrift,” distinct blocks of color encircle the drifting mass and bottom half of the narwhals’ bodies, showing the enduring effects of environmental disasters “similar to how the bands of sediment are left in homes after floodwaters recede,” he writes. “The bands are in the colors of black (oil spills), red (wildfires), green (irradiated waters from reactor spills), and even gold from luxury billionaire yachts running aground.”
Williams is currently working on six large-scale sculptures for the Atlanta International Airport, and you can follow his progress on Instagram.Detail of “Adrift”
Detail of “Phantom Limb(s)”
Detail of “Phantom Limb(s)”
“Adrift”
Detail of “Adrift”
Detail of “Adrift”
“Phantom Limb(s)”#animals
#climate change
#crayons
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Fiery Crayon Sculptures and Busts by Herb Williams Confront the Climate Crisis
Art#climate change
#crayons
#fire
#sculptureFebruary 18, 2021
Grace Ebert“First Fire.” All images © Herb Williams, by Hannah Deits, shared with permission
Herb Williams addresses some of the most pressing issues of our time—uncontrollable fires, hurricanes, and an impending lack of natural resources, to name a few—through an unusually playful medium. The Nashville-based artist creates colorful sculptures and busts from innumerable crayons, assembling textured works that simultaneously display the ubiquitous childhood tool while confronting the ongoing effects of the climate crisis.
Similar to the large-scale flames he created in response to Texas wildfires nearly a decade ago, Williams’ new pieces, like the river-stone-encircled campfire above, are based in collective experience. He writes:
The epic catastrophes, disasters, and pandemic are virtually impossible to navigate as adults, so I am trying to create works that will help children understand and eventually deal, most hopefully solve what we can’t one day. I’m exploring the myths we cling to comfort, deny or manage our way through without losing our collective humanity.
“First Fire” pairs with Three Graces of Climate Change, a trio of figurative sculptures that reinterpret the “Venus de Milo” through the lenses of wildfires, glacial melt, and deforestation. In one piece, bright blazes erupt from the shoulder and hip, and in another, the figure is sliced in two to reveal age rings similar to those of a tree.
Williams currently is working on six sculptures that’ll be on display at Atlanta International Airport. He’s also the curator at Nashville’s Rymer Gallery, where you can find a larger collection of his works.“Venus of Wildfires”
“Venus of Glacial Melt”
“Venus of Deforestation”#climate change
#crayons
#fire
#sculptureDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now!
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