Turning to the Forest in Times of Upheaval

Emi: Good question! I think, like many people in 2024, it has felt like we are barreling towards this precipice, with a lot of dread and anticipation, and it has made me feel reflective on what my place in the world and community is. How can I channel my anxiety into something concrete? 

I have always admired the ACLU's work and felt that the organization is a really impactful example of how you can take action. When I saw the Call for Artists, it felt like a perfect way for me to deepen my art practice, marry my art to my values, and create more community driven art. 

Emi: For this piece, I knew the hope was to celebrate the natural beauty of Oregon. For me, I love Forest Park, and I try to go every weekend, so I thought about the plants and animals I see there. One of my favorite plants is the Oxalis oregana — it carpets the ground like a soft, lush blanket, and I think their leaves look so bubbly and cute. They are like the superheros of the forest ecosystem: they are medicinal, you can eat them, they are important for pollinators, their seeds are food for animals. Forest fires are a big issue of our time and they come back after forest fires, so I just feel drawn to them. 

For the other natural elements, I knew I wanted the piece to feel dreamy, verging on magical, so I wanted the sky to feel soft and like the brink of twilight — where we become a little untethered from reality and the dark and the light blend together as the colors change. The moon helped add an element of softness and transition — as if you are moving from a time of action into a time of rest. Rest is critical to the sustainability of this work. 

Emi: I think that when you think of the ACLU, you think of this monolith, this big entity with really serious, formal lawyers for staff. I didn't know what to expect when I jumped into a meeting with you all, but it ended up being a bunch of people — particulary women, femmes, and nonbinary people — who are aroung my age, who are just like me, who are really passionate about these issues. Like peers, you all brought your expertise on how to tell the story, and I brought my skillset as an artist. We were able to harmoniously wed our perspectives, and that was really cool. I went from thinking the ACLU was this faceless monolith to seeing it as a team of normal everyday people who are all working together. 

Emi: I think forests are such a great example of the interconnectedness of everything. Like in the forest ecosystem, we all play a role. How can we look at the forest as a guide or mentor to us in our interconnectedness? 

Like our democracy forests are resilient — they bounce back after disaster. The world isn't ending, and we will emerge from this and enter a time of growth again. We must resist in our own capacities and push back against complacency. 

I hope that when people see this, they can kind of tap into that. Where do they fit in or what role do they have? We all have something to give. At a time where we all want to isolate, we must lean into our communities.