Designing Our Future: 8 Creatives Fighting For Environmental Change

As the world grapples with the escalating climate crisis, there’s an ever-growing urgency for action. From melting ice caps to devastating wildfires, the signs of environmental distress are impossible to ignore. 

Alongside movements like Earth Day, which has been celebrated worldwide on April 22nd since 1970 to demonstrate support for environmental protection, there is a growing movement of art activists who are using their work as a powerful tool in the fight against climate change.

From photographers to fashion designers, creatives are using their talents to ignite change and inspire action. 

To celebrate Earth Day 2024, we’ve rounded up eight talented creatives who are confronting climate change and other environmental issues and using their work as platforms for advocacy, offering hope and inspiration for a more sustainable future.

So, without further ado, let’s delve into a world where creativity meets conservation.  

American artist Alexis Rockman has been a pioneer for climate change since he became an Artist in the 80s —he was one of the first contemporary artists to build his career around exploring environmental issues, from evolutionary biology and genetic engineering to deforestation and climate change.

With a love for nature and art history, he blends art, science, and environmental activism to create cinematic oil paintings depicting dystopian landscapes showing climate change’s impact. 

Alexis has used vivid imagery for decades to spark discussion, reflection,  and action on environmental issues. His impressive body of work ranges from the creation of Manifest Destiny in 1999—a 24-foot oil painting depicting the future of the Brooklyn waterfront post-glacier melt—to his latest exhibition, Oceanus. This recent work aims to heighten awareness and create conversation about the pressing global challenges our oceans face from the effects of human maritime activities.

His artworks have been exhibited globally and showcased at esteemed galleries like the Venice Biennale, the Carnegie Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, among others. Alexis also collaborated with Ang Lee on the 2012 movie Life of Pi, where his art significantly influenced the film’s visual narrative. 

“I want my work to attract and disturb, to be almost impossible to look at and impossible not to look at, to create momentum for change,” he says. 

Canadian photographer Benjamin Von Wong engages audiences with his mesmerizing art installations, causing them to reflect on their environmental footprint. His work stands out for its environmental focus and hyper-realistic style, addressing critical issues such as ocean plastics, electronic waste, and the fast fashion industry.

Renowned for combining everyday objects and startling statistics to tell compelling stories, Benjamin masterfully simplifies complex environmental issues into narratives that captivate and resonate on a global scale.

“I believe that art has the power to open up conversation pathways to people who might not be otherwise interested. It creates an opportunity for dialogue and emotional connectivity across cultures and politics,”  he explains.

Benjamin’s initiatives have spotlighted issues like the plastic microfibers shed by washing machines, electronic waste, and plastic pollution in our oceans. Among his notable projects is a collaboration with Greenpeace and aerial performer Katerina Soldatou. Together, they created a visually striking piece emphasizing the alarming rate at which plastic is dumped into the ocean every minute, bringing urgent attention to this global crisis.

Sydney artist and ‘trashion’ designer Marina DeBris is a trailblazing environmental creative renowned for her innovative approach to raising awareness about ocean pollution.

Drawing inspiration from the rubbish she finds washed up on the beach, she transforms the discarded materials into thought-provoking wearable art that challenges us to confront the consequences of our consumption habits. 

Since 2009, she has been picking up litter and making art with it to deliver a message. 

She used polystyrene cups and takeaway containers washed up on the Californian coast to create her first piece of wearable art – a polystyrene dress known as Takeaway Queen. She later created another garment called White Trash, made from cigarette lighters and plastic cutlery. She even created a large installation called The Inconvenience Store, which resembled a shop featuring products made from rubbish. 

Using the washed-up materials exactly how she finds them, Marina wants to make the audience uncomfortable and force them to confront the issue. “I want the pieces to be realistic and slightly upsetting. They also smell and are slightly uncomfortable, but that’s how I want people to feel because we are swimming in this water we pollute; we are drinking it too,” she explains. 

While Marina knows that making art out of rubbish won’t solve the larger issues we’re facing, she hopes it will educate others to question their spending habits. 

“My plea to everyone is to use reusable everything – from masks to coffee cups. Make my art supplies disappear – or at least rare.”

Chris Jordan is a talented photographer who creates powerful images of mass consumption and its consequences. Through his lens, he brings to light the stark reality of throw-away culture, capturing everything from discarded products to the heartbreaking impact of plastic on wildlife.

He gained recognition for his 2017 documentary Albatross,  an emotional film that tells the tragic tale of birds on Midway Island in the Pacific, whose bodies are filled with ocean plastics. This work, alongside his earlier projects documenting the vast quantities of mobile phones and computer circuit boards sent to landfills, highlights his profound ability to capture the harsh realities of our consumption and its dire environmental effects. 

“I think of photography as a clear window to look at real things in the real world. Despite AI and Photoshop manipulation and all the art-world conversation about how photography can never be objective or truthful, it is still the most representative of all artistic mediums. To me, that is its great power,” he says. 

Hungarian-born artist Agnes Denes is a pioneer of environmental art. Her work breaks traditional boundaries, blending elements of environmental activism, conceptual art, and scientific inquiry.

Renowned for her groundbreaking projects, Agnes has consistently challenged societal norms and perspectives through her innovative approach to art. One of her most iconic pieces, “Wheatfield – A Confrontation” (1982), involved the transformation of a two-acre plot of land in downtown Manhattan into a golden wheat field, serving as a poignant commentary on urbanization, ecology, and the human impact on the environment.

She has explored various artistic mediums throughout her career, mainly working with earth and plants. One of her most significant projects was Tree Mountain–A Living Time Capsule, in Finland, spanning from 1992 to 1996 –Finland’s first artificial virgin forest, with 11,000 trees planted by people from all over the world, and is protected for 400 years by a decree from the President of Finland!

Through her thought-provoking installations, Agnes has left a significant mark on the art world and inspired generations to reconsider their relationship with the natural world.

“What is the point of creating art that simply mirrors the surface of things when you can use art to explore ideas?” 

Known for transforming spaces into mind-bending, immersive experiences, Olafur Eliasson uses natural elements like light, water, air, and temperature to explore how we perceive and interact with our environment. 

In addition to being visually stunning, Olafur’s artworks have a more profound message about climate change and sustainability, serving as reminders of humanity’s impact on the Earth. From introducing vibrant rainbows into gallery spaces or transporting massive ice chunks from Greenland to London, Olafur’s art transcends conventional boundaries, pushing the limits of artistic expression to provoke thought and reflection on pressing environmental issues.

He has a way of making complex topics not only accessible but also enchanting, which is evident in his 2003 site-specific installation, The Weather Project, which drew more than two million people to the Tate Modern in London. Other important projects include The Glacier Melt Series (1999/2019), Your Rainbow Panorama (2006-2011), Palace Of Versailles (2016), and Little Sun (2012), which helped to light up millions of houses in areas of Africa with electricity issues. 

Olagur’s mission is to inspire change and create art that can change the world. “By pushing the limits of the possible, art inspires people. It encourages them to form, express, and work towards their dreams and aspirations by showing them that their actions matter and that they can change the world,” he says. 

Zaria Forman is an artist who spreads awareness of climate change through her naturalistic large-scale pastel drawings of ever-changing remote landscapes, including glistening icebergs, turbulent arctic waters, and crashing waves.

Following in her mother’s footsteps, a photographer who ventured into some of the world’s most secluded landscapes, Zaria has embraced a similar path. She travels to the farthest corners of the globe, gathering images and inspiration for her art. She has even flown with NASA on several Operation IceBridge missions over Antarctica, Greenland, and Arctic Canada. 

“Climate change is arguably the largest crisis we face as a global society. I feel a responsibility as an artist to address this in my work, especially since I’ve had the rare opportunity to travel to remote places at the forefront of the crisis,” she explains.

Using her drawings to tap into people’s emotions, she shows the beauty of what people stand to lose. “Art has a special ability to tap into our emotions. When you fall in love with something, you want to protect it,” she says. 

Born in Kenya and based in America, Wangechi Mutu has earned global recognition for her diverse contributions to painting, sculpture, film, and performance art. Over the years, her career has been marked by a relentless pursuit of innovation and a commitment to challenging the status quo.

Her work is characterized by its depth, complexity, and the seamless weaving together of contemporary issues with mythological and cultural narratives, but what distinguishes her, beyond her remarkable talent, is her engagement with critical global issues, particularly through her alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on Climate Action and Gender Equality.

One of her most celebrated pieces, The End of Eating Everything (2013), critiques consumer culture and environmental destruction, while her many films and performances often delve into themes related to environmental degradation, species extinction, and the exploitation of natural resources. Through her work, Wangechi urges viewers to confront the consequences of unsustainable practices and consider the need for more responsible consumption habits.

That’s a wrap! We hope you feel inspired by these creatives who are using their art as a catalyst for environmental awareness and advocacy. Whether you’re a seasoned artist or an aspiring creator, remember that your work can make a difference and has the potential to make a significant impact in the fight for environmental change.