This series explores ideas of the interconnection of the health of the body and the environment focusing on the element of air, specifically as breath, as one of our most intimate acts.

I questioned how to describe the profound emotions felt in nature while also addressing the psychology of the climate crisis since these images came from seasons of fires and air pollution. The poetry of words and images combined brings more emotional resonance for me to describe an internal and external landscape. The work becomes a means to express joy, longing, and desire; and to begin to understand the current and past physical and emotional loss to generations.

This project is created through the lens of my own female body as nature, and to reframe the outdated notion of sewing and mending as women’s work. There is a disproportionate impact of climate change on women while the efforts of women are at the forefront of creating real solutions to lessen the impact of these changes.

As the images float, the words become ephemeral like breath, as do memories of the land and sky. Word poems are created and recreated by the airflow and human presence in a shared connection to inspire a new language. Words disappear in the image, representing conversations unfinished in environmental discussions and with each other. The collage of images and words becomes an attempt at a new language where previous communication methods have failed. This series also represents our current systems of connection and disconnection with the earth and the resilience of nature to adapt to our interventions.

KATIE KALKSTEIN

KATIE KALKSTEIN