"Solastalgia" - A Work in Progress

​"Solastalgia", a neologism for the grief and anxiety felt about global climate change and environmental destruction, both local and global. This is the title of one of my currently in-progress oil paintings.

Work-in-progress photo of "Solastalgia, or, Dryad in Winter"

It's the overwhelming sense of grief and the paralyzing feeling and fear of not being able to do anything to stop climate change. It's the mourning of the loss of life on Earth, and ultimately the loss of ourselves. It's the frustration of knowing what's happening, and the recognition that humans should never have placed themselves above nature as master. It's a heavy subject, and some days, difficult to paint on. 

This painting has a second name - "The Dryad in Winter", where the dryad is mourning the seasonal "death" of the forest. It quickly became more than that. Let's hope (and actually take action to make sure) that this part of human history is just a temporary season of death, and that spring will come. 

On more technical terms, my style of painting is evolving, but it's a back and forth between expressive brushwork and controlled, well-planned glazing with forms and light aiming to recall the wonderful chiaroscuro figures of the baroque masters. This work is on linen, not my go-to birch panels. I like it slightly better than cotton, but I think birch panels will always be my preference. 

Work-in-progress detail shot of the forest floor in "Solastalgia"

To read more about the word "solastalgia" and the philosopher who coined the term:
https://qz.com/1423202/a-philosopher-invented-a-word-for-the-psychic-pain-of-climate-change/
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