As Rob Nixon suggests the power of stories or fiction in the face of politics is that fiction can more easily span timezones, geographies, human and post-human species, creating new and inviting “ecotones.” (Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor by Rob Nixon)
Artists Statements
Martha Mae Jones
Proud Martha - After a short visit, 30 years ago, to Martha’s Vineyard, I found a small cottage which was meant to be mine. A newfound friend, who had come here to heal, said to me: Martha, this island calls some people, and when they come the island will take care of them.” Truth be told, that was prophecy. In every necessary way this has been the refrain to my song. My latest artwork, “Proud Martha”, pays homage and extends my gratitude to the Vineyard, which takes pride in protecting this sacred land, honoring the history of its native stakeholders, and conserving its essential ecology. And in its aspiration to be a model for a visionary society!
Marion Wilson
“I’ve no choice to be unnatural.” The idea of the show comes from Wilson’s reading of Animal’s People by Indra Sinha referred to her by Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor by Rob Nixon; and her contemplating the “uselfulness” of painting in the face of art activism. This half animal half human (the artist’s son’s face) character embodies the environmental picaresque- a rogue or rascal stooped to the ground. Animal’s People is a fictionalized account of a fictionalized city that was devastated by a real chemical leak of a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal. Wilson who has been painting very fluid watercolors of real people; and alongside she uses oil paint to created fictionalized accounts of real environmental or political events. As Rob Nixon suggests the power of stories or fiction in the face of politics is that fiction can more easily span timezones, geographies, human and post-human species, creating new and inviting “ecotones.”
Buck McAdoo
#1 - Desert Solitaire, Chegaga, Maroc - Sometimes it pays to go behind the main scene to find the best composition. This is a desert tourist camp run by Bari and his brothers in the Moroccan desert. A lot of work goes into these camps. You have to feed the camels and the tourists and have blankets to keep the camels warm at night. In the back of these camps are the piles of blankets, the propane tank plus various connecting wires and discarded metal rods, etc.. I liked the composition. The painting strives to bring out the soul in this conglomeration.
#2 - The Aftermath, Skopelos, Greece - This scene of twisted and rusted metal parts is on the island of Lesbos. It is all discarded equipment from an olive oil processing plant. I found the composition irresistible. In the foreground you can see the ivy starting to invade the pile, a reminder that nature will eventually bury this pile in vines and weeds, and maybe crumble the wall behind it.
#3 - Let’s Deliquesce, Index, Washington - The title derives from the shaggy main mushrooms in the foreground. As these mushrooms age, their caps dissolve or ‘deliquesce’ into blobs of ink. Prior to that, they are choice edibles. I am an amateur mycologist, so I occasionally run into vehicles abandoned deep in the woods off some logging road. Sometimes they are shot up with bullet holes. There is a deep soul attached to those abandoned for decades. I have tried to capture that here with this old van overcome by moss and ferns.
#4 - The Bird Walk, Bellingham, Wash. - Some five or six years ago, two feed stores burned down on Railroad Avenue. If you wandered through the alley behind them, you came across this bird mural that even bordered on graffiti in places. The back wall of one of the pet food stores. I snapped the photo without putting much thought into it. But reviewing this photo years later, I spotted what looked like wisps of smoke from the fire. They got added to this painting at the end. I also replaced the metal fence in the foreground with animistic drift logs from Birch Bay. There is a sort of Gothic spirituality attached to them, and they all face the same way in accordance with the OneWay sign on the wall. This wall was soon demolished and carted away. This painting may be the only record of it.
Ella Mahoney
Ella Mahoney is a visual artist, illustrator, and educator, and a member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). She holds a BFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts and an MA in Art Education from Pratt Institute. Her interdisciplinary practice centers on storytelling, often drawing from Wampanoag creation stories and her personal experience of indigeneity and connection to land and water. Through engaging with stories through various mediums such as silk painting, performance, children’s books, and oral storytelling— she offers different avenues to build deeper connections with the meaning and purpose of each story, building on indigenous history and legends for the future. Working primarily in oil, acrylic, and silk painting, Mahoney’s recent work focuses on large-scale silk installations that evoke the movement, memory, and atmosphere of north east coastal environments— and more specifically, Aquinnah. She has illustrated children’s books for the Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project and collaborated with institutions such as the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Long Island Children’s Museum, and MassArt, exhibiting in gallery and museum settings and creating immersive works in dialogue with performance and place.
Alex McAdoo
Alex McAdoo is a painter from Bellingham, Washington and is currently living and working in Los Angeles. He received his BFA in graphic design from University of Utah in 2013 and his MFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design in 2019.
