Karen Viola

Nursery: The River That Flows Both Ways

The book was created digitally, printed at my home studio with Epson inks on watercolor paper.

It measures 5 x 7 inches when closed, and its accordion format extends it to 50 inches wide.

My artist's book "Nursery: The River that Flows Both Ways" is a reflection on the biodiversity and history of the Hudson River, which the Munsee Lenape called 'Muhheakantuck' (the river that flows both ways).

Knowing the story of our local land where we live and work is the groundwork, literally, for building a local economy. My research took me back to before the internet, before global supply chains, before the Erie Canal, before fur trading, to a time when it was imperative to know where their water and food came from in order to survive. And I realized, this is actually still true on a collective, species level. My prose foregrounds the indigenous wisdom of reciprocity and intimacy with the land and its watershed, and it asks how we might apply this in our lives today.

As Richard Heinberg explains, “A more local and therefore more resilient economy is one in which people feel they have more of a stake in production and distribution as well as consumption; one in which they have more knowledge of where their goods come from and what happens to them at the end of their lifecycle." I also suggest that we know the basics, starting with where our own water comes from, and where our waste goes. There is no 'away.'!
2023
  • Karen Viola

Schooling

Artist's book

This artist’s book was created with sheets of fused plastic made from food packaging which is usually discarded, ending up in landfills or worse: our waterways and the life within them on which our lives depend. When fully unfolded, the accordion flag structure measures about 36 inches long by 11 inches tall, based loosely on the size of a large bluefish, one of the many species in decline due to overfishing. The book was bound by hand with a needle and thread.

The concept of the school of fish in the shape of a fish honors the brilliant children’s book “Swimmy” by Leo Lionni and its powerful message about community resilience. My wavy line of rhythmic text further underlines how critical this is for humans to understand in the face of all of our interwoven eco-social crises. As stated in the Post Carbon Institute's Think Resilience course (lesson 14): "The resilience of any one system is influenced by the resilience of everything around it... [and] “building resilience starts with decisions about what we value about a system.” If people value their access to clean water and the ability to derive sustenance from it they would be wise to align with organizations that do the work that makes this possible. A shining example in my own Hudson Valley community would be @riverkeeper, and I encourage all who live nearby to check out their website (riverkeeper.org) and get schooled!

Thanks to Sarah Maker, @areyoubookenough and the #areyoubookenough community and to Michele Guieu for creating the What's Next for Earth? project. I express my gratitude to both groups in this one post as a nod to how different communities can nurture and strengthen each other.
2022
  • Karen Viola

Beech Companions

Ink on paper, 6 x 8 inches.
Done mostly on location at Cranberry Lake Preserve in Weschester county, NY with a bit of digital painting at home.
2022

I have sketched these particular trees before at various angles and each time I notice something new. Today's surprise was noticing how they were actually fused together through their roots.

This fusing together is just one of the many amazing things these and many other trees can do. The stronger individual provides nutrients for the weaker because they know as trees know that their fates are tied. They join together as one in the struggle for survival. I wonder if the people who carved their marks and professed their love on the bark of these trees noticed this beautiful romance of resilience at their feet.

Can humans learn about resilience from trees? I know I do. I have also learned much from the Think Resilience course sponsored by the Post Carbon Institute (tags below) and I urge everyone reading this to please check it out, it is a valuable (and free) resource.
2022
  • Karen Viola

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