Navigating Climate Change with Alonzo Davis

Navigating Climate Change with Art

by Alonzo Davis

My art choices and worldviews have been inspired by travel and issues of social justice. Through travel, I seek influences, cultural centers, energies, new terrain and the power of both the spoken and unspoken. The magic of the Southwest United States, Brazil, Haiti and West Africa has penetrated my work. Southern California, home for thirty years, has also had an indelible impact and the colors and rhythms of the Pacific Rim continue to infiltrate. Social justice themes most recently addressed are “He Walked in the Light,” in homage to Julian Bond and “Targeted in the USA.”

Primarily an abstract artist, I create in a variety of media: bamboo, wood, paper, and metal. Texture, in the form of layered color and burned-patterning, is a hallmark of my work and whenever possible, I integrate LED light elements.

As a discipline, I work in series that is, I explore a range of possibilities inherent in a given theme, medium or technique before moving on to something new. Sticking with this approach has enabled me to produce distinct bodies of related works.

The history of Davis’ Navigating Climate Change project goes back to 2016 when a studio assistant traveled to Micronesia as part of the Peace Corps and raised his consciousness of that geography.

That work, entitled Navigation Series, preceded the current one, and was inspired by Davis’ long-time fascination with Micronesian navigation stick charts. Once used by Micronesian seafarers, the charts, actually studies of Pacific swell patterns and island locations, helped mariners navigate the waters in and around the region by canoe.

After completing that earlier series, the artist learned that the islands of Micronesia are in danger of being submerged due to ever-rising sea levels. He decided to create Navigating Climate Change to bring attention to the devastation that the climate crisis is bringing to a head, not only in the Pacific Islands but around the world.

Works in the exhibition were selected by curator Nancy Sausser. Working with video artist and editor Tim McLoraine, Davis also produced a short video that captures the way artists are embracing climate activism. A concurrent exhibition of related works is installed at McLean Project for the Arts from April 1 through June 10.

More information about Alonzo Davis can be found on Instagram, @alonzodavis_studio, and his website, www.alonzodavisstudios.com.