Mia Baker

Artist Statement

My series, Terrarium, describes the human impact on the environment, expressing how human systems are not compatible with the systems of nature. Growing up in Hawaii, I learned about indigenous and sustainable farming practices that worked in harmony with nature, prioritizing soil health and ecosystem diversity. I participated in reforestation and habitat conservation projects as a child. Native Hawaiians and other indigenous cultures believe that humans are a part of nature and that we need to take care of the environment because it is our home.

When I moved to the mainland, I noticed a different cultural perspective: the environment is viewed as material to be controlled rather than a place we inhabit. I have noticed that in Eurocentric cultures, our systems tend toward linear, grid-like structures, while nature tends to be chaotic and wild. For instance, industrial farming methods such as monoculture is structured in linear rows and lacks diversity causing problems with soil health and plant nutrition, requiring the need for pesticides and fertilizers that damage the ground further. We use linear systems when designing transportation grids that fragment the environment and lead to species endangerment and extinction.

My large oil paintings depict abstracted botanicals disrupted by lines and grids to symbolize how humans disrupt the environment. The specific plant I depict in each of my paintings is known as the Heliconia plant or Lobster Claw flower. This plant is found in Hawaii, however it is not native and was brought over by humans because of its decorative quality. I specifically use man-made devices to design my paintings, including cameras, Photoshop, and tape, to mimic how humans control the natural and organic image, reflecting what we do to the environment every day. I choose unnatural and artificial colors to comment on the synthetic, artificial surroundings that make up our contemporary world. I use a large scale for my paintings to draw the viewer in and help them understand the importance and the reality of environmental destruction.

I chose to title this series Terrarium because a terrarium is a contained version of nature—something living placed inside a controlled and artificial structure meant to simulate its original environment. I want the viewer to question their own relationship to the environment, and to think about the tension between what is already naturally there, and what we impose upon it. My goal as an artist is to inform people about how our current practices create more harm than good so we can find ways to improve how we interact with our environment.