Pamela Sloan is a Chicago based artist and environmental advocate, whose current work, “Unearthed”, delves into the profound relationship between humanity and soil. The art begins with a simple yet powerful process. Paper is buried in soil allowing nature take the lead. Pamela selects each burial site for its symbolic connections to conservation and transformation. Sites are often historical wastelands that are in the process of being repurposed and naturalised.
When Pamela Sloan buries her heavy watercolour paper, time, and earth’s organisms work together to decompose it. This process leaves behind textured canvasses of unexpected beauty, which are stained by the minerals and chemicals in the soil. These paper remnants are then transformed to final works of art. “Unearthed” provokes reflection on our interconnectedness to the land we don’t see, with the importance of environmental stewardship.
Following the path of Aldo Leopold
She has buried much of the paper in sites that follow the path of American conservationist Aldo Leopold (1886-1948). His 1948 book A Sand County Almanac pioneered the need for a “land ethic”. Pamela Sloan’s chosen sites include his home in Burlington, Iowa. She also went to the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico, where he is credited with establishing the first government protected wilderness site. Also the artist chose Burlington, Wisconsin where Aldo Leopold spent his final years re-naturalising deserted fallow farmland.
“Environmental art exists in the tensions between creation and preservation….”
Pamela Sloan is a perceptive advocate of art and environment. For her: “Environmental art exists in the tensions between creation and preservation, who we are and who we must become, global problems and local solutions. “
Art of the Chicago Wilderness
Her previous art series “Bats to Butterflies: Art of the Chicago Wilderness” is based on a list of twelve priority animal species designated by the Chicago Wilderness Alliance. This is a regional consortium of conservation organisations who work within the 7.2 million acres of land surrounding southern Lake Michigan. These twelve species were designated in 2017 for monitoring and conservation. In general, they are small creatures, but they are mascots of entire biomes; rivers, grasslands, marshes, and forests. All these are habitats that are vanishing or weakening due to environmental fragmentation, long-term results of industrialisation, and lack of stewardship
Pamela Sloan has based each painting on anatomical and environmental research. She has had generous support from the scientists who are currently stewarding the species. Her paintings of these animals are highly textural, incorporating environmental artifacts, from native grasses to bat guano to emphasise the role of each animal as a link in a complex chain.
Architecture and education
Pamela Sloan is an artist with tangent careers in architecture and education. She holds BFA, MA, and MEd degrees. As a recent graduate of the Master Naturalists extension program at the University of Illinois, she is a volunteer for the Cook County Forest Preserves.
Pamela Sloan does pro bono graphics for environmental non-profit organisations. She is also the chief editor of Blessed and Broken, a magazine published by the Kolbe House Ministry of the Chicago Archdiocese, which focuses on poetry and art from inmates at Illinois correctional facilities.
www.pamelasloan.com
