Artist Statement - Amy Snider

Crushed is an art installation about climate change anxiety. The gallery floor is covered with over 800 eggshell thin ceramic bowls made from clay I dug up in Regina. To read the text on the walls, you need to become a participant: will you step carefully between the bowls, perhaps tiptoeing or raising your pant cuffs? Or will you stomp ahead, satisfied by the sound of shattering ceramic beneath your feet? What will you leave behind for others?

Climate change is destroying the places I love, from the melting Rocky Mountain glaciers I hike to with my family, to the dried-out wetlands where we used to bird watch. This affects me deeply, not only because it robs me of my enjoyment of these places, but also for the fear and sadness I have about the unprecedented planetary changes we are causing. Where are the birds who built their nests in these wetlands for generations? What will happen to our water supply when the South Saskatchewan River runs dry? What will the world be like when my son reaches my age? Questions like these are always on my mind. 

As a potter, I now make cups, plates, and bowls the represent the effects of climate change on the world and on me as they dissolve, crumble, and blow away. To me, these pottery forms symbolize our humanness as they are a few of the first objects we created, and we use them daily in our homes to feed ourselves. The bowls in Crushed convey our precarity at this time, as the ecosystems that keep us alive are being crushed by the weight of our footprint on the planet.

Climate anxiety and grief are on the rise. This is not good. If anything hopeful is possible, we need people who care to demand action. Caring can be hard, I know. Even talking about this issue can be difficult. Crushed creates a safe space for community, solace, and support. For those who feel distress while experiencing this show, I offer opportunities to connect with like-minded people and to participate in work being done towards solutions. Finding community and taking action are the two best ways to overcome despair.  ~Amy Snider

My name is Amy Snider. I am a recent MFA graduate of the University or Regina, Canada. I use a variety of media, predominantly clay and ceramic sculpture and autotheoretical writing, to represent the effects of the climate crisis. My work includes a series of ephemeral cups, bowls, and plates that represent melting glaciers, drought, and eco-anxiety as they dissolve, crumble, and blow away.