Kim Anderson
This Shifting Earth, 2021 by Kim Anderson - Ink, charcoal and pastel on paper, 76cm x 56cm
Engulfed by Kim Anderson - Ink charcoal and pastel, 105cm x 75cm
The Peace of Wild Things, 2023 (detail) by Kim Anderson - Ink, charcoal and graphite on paper, 75cm x 210cm Photo: Ian Hill Photography
In the Stillness I, 2023 by Kim Anderson - Ink charcoal and graphite on paper, 56cm x 56cm
In the Stillness II, 2023 by Kim Anderson - Ink charcoal and graphite on paper, 56cm x 56cm
Waiting for the birds, 2023 by Kim Anderson- Ink charcoal and graphite on paper, 105cm x 75cm
I don't recall when I first came across Wendell Berry's poem 'The Peace of Wild Things', but I do know it resonated with me long after I read it. His words reflected my own exploration of the complex relationship between humanity and the natural world through my drawings. For the past few years I have focused on the widely felt experience of grief and anxiety associated with climate change and the loss of fragile ecosystems, but this grief has threatened to overwhelm me. It was too much, too heavy. The unheeded desperate warnings of climate scientists were bringing me to tears. Berry's poem lifted me out of that downward spiral and offered me a sense of hope.
The natural world has always been a source of comfort and solace for me, but also a place where I am reminded of my vulnerability. When I go out into the landscape to photograph myself - photographs I use as the basis for my drawings - I am very aware of my body in direct contact with the tactile reality of Nature. The crunch of dirt and leaves beneath my bare feet, the intricate yet rigid whorls and crevices of ancient bark under my hands, the roots and branches like the weathered limbs of some elephantine creature far older and wiser than any human. What does all this know of or care about my fleeting imposition, or my fears for the future?
That anxiety is still with me, but it hasn't yet turned to complete despair. Nature's enduring resilience relies, paradoxically, upon a delicate balance, and we must consider the impact of our human activities upon that balance. It's a dance of reciprocity, rather than domination. If our environment is not thriving, then we also suffer. These difficult times we find ourselves in are an opportunity for personal reflection and growth, and even a kind of healing - despite feeling as if the world is burning around us. If we can show up for ourselves and our planet with empathy and humility, we have a better chance of survival.
The Peace of Wild Things by Kim Anderson will run from 5 to 22 December 2023 at Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, Australia.
www.flg.com.au/exhibition/peace-wild-things
Kim Anderson's artwork features on the cover of Issue 341 of Resurgence & Ecologist (November/December 2023).
