Angela Angel
Blueprint for a New Earth Rising
Paper, Graphite and Ink, 2021
12’ x 8’
Angela believes the work of the artist now in this great time of planetary transition is to help design a whole new world that is adaptable to the great shifts we are experiencing in rapid climate change, systems fail, economic and ecological collapse. This piece is a step towards re-imagining our world with design that connects us back to the sustainable lifeways of our ancestors, the scale in which we need to act and the answers that also lie within the problem. Angela’s approach to the time we are living in can be best said as: “this time is an opportunity.”
Influenced by the principles of permaculture and the great imagineers, ecologists, earth designers, protectors, defenders, thinkers and lovers-- specifically Vandana Shiva, Nader Khalili, Buckminster Fuller, E.F. Schumacher, Nicola Tesla, Wangari Maathai, Isatou Ceesay, Paul Stamets, Octavia Butler, The Zapatistas and indigenous peoples all over the world, Angela’s vision for this project is larger than this art piece itself and is an actual blueprint to the reality Angela plans to help manifest in her lifetime.
NFS
Angela Han
The Nine Guardians of Water
Oil on Aquabord, 2021
35” x 44” (9 paintings total)
“The Nine Guardians of Water” is a polyptych inspired by the legendary nine dragons of Chinese mythology and influenced by Filipina-American composer, Susie Ibarra, and her “Water Rhythms: Listening to Climate Change.” While tradition speaks of nine dragon sons of a dragon king, artist Angela Han chose to create nine dragon daughters of a dragon queen. Each daughter plays a unique role in protecting Mother Earth’s water, from calling for justice to consuming toxicity. This creation asks us to imagine: How can we be guardians of water?
Listen to Ibarra’s “Water Rhythms” while viewing this piece. Scan the QR code:
$3750 for whole polyptych
ROW 1
The Composer
Oil on Aquabord, 2021
11” x 14”
The Warrior
Oil on Aquabord, 2021
11” x 14”
The Shield
Oil on Aquabord, 2021
11” x 14”
ROW 2
The Messenger
Oil on Aquabord, 2021
11” x 14”
The Librarian
Oil on Aquabord, 2021
11” x 14”
The Bulwark
Oil on Aquabord, 2021
11” x 14”
ROW 3
The Speaker of Truth
Oil on Aquabord, 2021
11” x 14”
The Teacher
Oil on Aquabord, 2021
11” x 14”
The Alchemist
Oil on Aquabord, 2021
11” x 14”
Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)
Lipo and Saeng's Story
Short Documentary, 2018
TRT: 4 mins
Lipo and Saeng Chanthanasak, leaders in Richmond's Southeast Asian refugee community, speak about their experiences coming to Richmond, living near the Chevron refinery, and becoming active in their community's struggle for environmental justice. Produced by the Asian Pacific Environmental Network and SunKissed Productions (www.sunkissedproductions.com).
NFS, Available to watch online
Pan Hai Bo's Story
Short Documentary, 2018
TRT: 2 mins, 45 secs
Pan Hai Bo worked as a locomotive engineer in China for almost 50 years before moving to Oakland. Now, at 92 years old, he is a leader in a campaign to stop a coal export terminal from polluting the air in his city. Produced by the Asian Pacific Environmental Network and Breaktide Productions (www.breaktide.co).
NFS, Available to watch online
Learn more about APEN at www.apen4ej.org
Berkeley South Asian Radical History Walking Tour
South Asians Rise Up for Climate Justice
Banner (acrylic on fabric), Posters, Photography, Wood and Twine, 2014-21
7’ 5” x 11’ x 2’ (Full Layout)
This collection of materials is from the South Asians for Climate Justice Contingent at the 2014 People's Climate March in New York City, a historic mobilization to advocate for global action on climate change.
The contingent banner was designed by Nadia Khastagir of Design Action, in collaboration with Brown and Green. It was painted by Neha Mathew, Vrinda Manglik, Bharati Mandapati, Barnali Ghosh, Shalin Shah, Andrew Patel, and Anirvan Chatterjee.
Posters were presented at the National South Asian Summit in 2015, and designed by Sabiha Basrai of Design Action, in collaboration with Brown and Green.
Photos by Barnali Ghosh and Anirvan Chatterjee of the Berkeley South Asian Radical History Walking Tour.
Installation layout by Lisa Pradhan.
NFS
Cindy Shih
Uprooted #1-4
Opaque and Transparent Watercolor on Paper, 2020
19.5” x 1” x 27.5”
At the start of quarantine, Cindy Shih began to save vegetable scraps to plant in her small, backyard garden in San Francisco. In unfamiliar terrain, the carrots took a life of its own, twisting and turning to sprout new life in haphazard ways-- resulting in a beautiful metaphor for establishing a new life in uncharted and precarious times.
As Cindy's work often speaks to the immigrant experience, the "Uprooted" series became her quarantine diary, as well as a reminder of the ways we as immigrants and the descendants of immigrants adapt, evolve, and take root in unfamiliar soil. Our roots may have been cut short, but we grow in the land that forever changes us and becomes a part of who we are.
$500
Claire Lau
When the Sky Was Clear
Oil on Canvas, 2012
40” x 1.5” x 30”
Claire Lau insists on painting en plein air, completing all of her paintings on site from beginning to end. Claire finds plein air painting essential in today's world, when people are seemingly connected online, but are becoming increasingly detached from nature and humanity. This disconnect, along with the pursuit of wealth and profits, is the root cause of our climate crisis and environmental degradation. By setting up her easel outdoors, she invites everyone to reconnect with their surroundings, and to pause and ponder on our existence. “When the Sky is Clear” depicts construction in Hong Kong next to lush forests.
$2,600
Behind the Mall
Oil on Linen, 2013
40” x 1.5” x 30”
Claire painted “Behind the Mall” on site behind the Shatin New Town Plaza in Hong Kong, where behind this glossy mall full of global corporate luxury brands, one can find simple village homes in the wilderness, occupied by people who have lived on the land, and sometimes off of the land, for many years. In the distance are high rises, where most of Hong Kongʼs “modern” population lives.
$2,600
Air (Sui Wo Road)
Oil on Linen, 2013
45” x 1.5” x 25”
Claire painted “Air (Sui Wo Road)” by sneaking into an industrial building in Fotan, and capturing the government-subsidized housing towers (where she lived for 3 years) springing out of the forested hills.
$2,500
Bursting Out
Oil on Canvas, 2013
30” x 1.5” x 30”
In Claire’s plant series, the banyan treesʼs gestures are a metaphor for lifeʼs cycles, connectedness, and spirituality, while succulents represent resilience. Although humans attempt to control nature with concrete sidewalks and fences, these plants often fight back, bursting out of the shackles imposed by humans. “Bursting Out” is an example of a banyan tree successful in its struggle to break itself out of the confines of human control.
$2,200
Interweaving
Oil on Canvas, 2013
60” x 1.5” x 20”
Claire’s “Interweaving” shows two different types of trees with intermingling roots, representing interconnectedness, intersection, and solidarity.
$2,600
Erina Alejo, South of Market Community Action Network, Steve Belale
Amoy Tayong Araw! We Smell Like Sunshine!
Installation, 2021
5' x 5.5' x 10'
Amoy Tayong Araw! We Smell Like Sunshine! builds an archive examining the role of community power in anti-displacement organizing to advocate for our right to open and green spaces and sunlight. The project examines the multiracial, intergenerational, and cross-class grassroots efforts in protecting San Francisco SOMA's largest green space, Victoria Manalo Draves Park, from encroaching luxury development, led by neighborhood-based organizations like SOMCAN (South of Market Action Network). Presently, the park remains unshadowed by towering buildings through the Prop K Sunlight Ordinance, passed in 1984 out of concern for building shadows and related ramifications impacting community health.
NFS
Frances Kai-Hwa Wang
Sowing Aunties
Prose Poetry and Art Installation, 2021
5' x 1.5’ x 5.5’ (for whole installation)
Wang was shocked the first time she found out that there are people in the world who throw away the rubber bands that hold green onions together, only to purchase new ones at Office Max. Inspired by this realization, Wang wanted to explore quiet ways one could be an environmental justice leader, and the intergenerational ways cultural and environmental practices play out. This prose poem with whimsical art installations feature everyday items and children’s toys collected, reused, and reborn. This is not just about frugality, but a celebration of how our immigrant and refugee elders create home and provide; for us, for our tomorrow.
$2000 for the whole set
$500 for individual pieces
Gradient Earthlings (Victoria Cheng and Natalie Yap)
Fibers of Being
7’ x 12’
Mixed Textiles, 2021
Fibers of Being imagines and transforms climate grief into climate joy, creating community in a time where we are physically isolated. Focusing on the transformation of hierarchical systems to cyclical ones, it was inspired by the memories embedded in worn clothes and everyday textiles, by how things are used once before being discarded, and by how threads can be unraveled and remade into new garments. Fibers of Being is physically composed from donated clothing, fabric scraps, and miscellaneous yarn, which have been woven together through the sharing of associated memories and stories from their previous owners and tied together using common threads to create a new tapestry of our collective experiences. If the fibers of our garments have memories across time, what does that say for the fibers of our existence, our DNA?
The audience is invited to contribute to the shared story behind the tapestry. Scan the QR code or go to the link below to view the collection and to share a story!
NFS
Irene Wibawa
Balance Forward
Textile/Mixed Media, 2020
15" x 36”
This work was inspired by Christian Cooper, a Black birdwatcher in New York City. He and other Black, Indigenous, and people of color who study natural sciences do so in spite of systemic racism in academic and non-academic settings. By claiming their love and desire to study nature, they continue a tradition that has been passed from previous generations to future generations because nature belongs to no one person, to no one race...
NFS
Janna Añonuevo Langholz
Malunggay Grid
Archival pigment print, 2020
15” x 15”
Malunggay leaves are a staple in Filipino cooking and are also known for their medicinal benefits. In the Philippines, Añonuevo’s family would sit around a table to pick the leaves off their branches one by one for tinola. Because it can grow in a wide range of environmental conditions, she associates the plant with the ability to adapt and thrive, as well as with a relaxing activity spent with loved ones.
$350
Burdock Needlepoint
Archival pigment print, 2016
18” x 18”
Burdock has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years, but is often considered a weed in the United States. In botany, the highly sticky burs are referred to as diaspores, similar to the word "diaspora," which both refer to the dispersal of plants and people. Añonuevo took these burdock plants from a burn pile, cut the burs from their stems, and arranged them on a needlepoint pattern as a reminder of their capacity to heal.
$400
Kristiana Chan 莊禮恩
Bodies of Water
Cyanotype, 2019
49-piece grid of 12" x 9" prints
Exploring water as an ancient medium of memory, Chan attempts to capture traces of the lives previously lived in and around specific bodies of water. She repeatedly visits shoreline sites around the Bay Area where Chinese fishermen once lived and worked asking the ocean, “What do you remember?”. Following this question, a fishing net is cast over photosensitive paper and printed on the shore, developed in the seawater of these sites. Bodies of Water address the sea as a maternal entity, offering the viewer passage into the aquatic unconscious, transporting us to the past, present, and unseen worlds that lie below the surface of the psyche.
$4900
Bodies of Water
Audio and Video collage, Mosquito netting, 2019
Approx. 10' x 10' x 10'
Exploring water as an ancient medium of memory, Chan attempts to capture traces of the lives previously lived in and around specific bodies of water. She repeatedly visits shoreline sites around the Bay Area where Chinese fishermen once lived and worked asking the ocean, “What do you remember?”. Following this question, a fishing net is cast over photosensitive paper and printed on the shore, developed in the seawater of these sites. Bodies of Water address the sea as a maternal entity, offering the viewer passage into the aquatic unconscious, transporting us to the past, present, and unseen worlds that lie below the surface of the psyche.
NFS
Lydia Nakashima Degarrod
Conquering California Poppies: Landscapes of Healing, Beauty, and Ecological Invasion
Installation: Handmade papers, photo etching, 2021
80” x 10” x 77”
Each of the poppies are made of paper created by mixing the fibers of California poppies and mulberry. The images were created by combining printing photo transfers and European embroidery. The artwork aims at decolonizing the poppy, the state flower of California, by showing its transformation from a medicinal plant used by the different indigenous people of California for various maladies, its renaming by a European scientist who name it after a German scientist who never saw the plant, its transformation as the California state flower, and its propagation as an ornamental plant throughout the world. This piece was created during a residency at Kala Art Institute.
NFS
narinda heng
A Kind of Forest
Stoneware & Porcelain, 2021
10 vessels, ranging from 7"-12" tall, 3-4" wide at the base. Includes a 12" circular mirror.
These vessels-- each with differences in texture, color, capacity-- stand together in a circle, a sacred shape where no individual takes precedence over another.
If not for pandemic times, touch with care would be encouraged.
Please inquire for artwork price at exhibitions@aawaa.net
Pallavi Sharma
(Rakta) Bija
Installation, 2021
12' x 2’ x 8’
“परिवर्तन का 'बीज' थी वो
जहाँ गिरती
जम जाती...फिर उग आती
शरीर धर”
She was the ‘Seed’ of Change
Wherever she fell,
She would get rooted
…and come alive again Embodied
The title of the work is derived from the mythological story of goddess Ambika and Kali, who fought “Raktbeej” the demon who had a boon that allowed him to duplicate whenever a drop of his blood fell onto the ground. Sharma’s installation is a feminist reinterpretation of ‘Raktbeej’ and draws attention to the contribution of woman farmers and how they are exercising their agency to activate spaces to create a discourse on the current global ecological crisis. It is part of series of ongoing multidisciplinary artwork which started in 2019. Inspired by present-day South Asian environmental activist Vandana Shiva, Azra Sayeed, and Khushi Kabir, it emerged from Sharma’s investigation and understanding of the current global ecological crisis concerning patriarchal structures, corporate imperialism, and the destruction of bio and cultural diversity.
NFS
Pam Tau Lee
I Love You Too
Mixed media, 2021
12.5” x 16.5”
Across Mother Earth, the environment has been infected by COVID 19. 131 million families have been impacted and 2.84 million individuals have died. Needless to say, BIPOC, poorer and other vulnerable communities worldwide have been the heaviest impacted. On January 25th, Lee’s dearest mother passed away due to COVID 19. The pain of not being able to hold her hand and comfort her during her illness continues to haunt Lee. She set up an altar of some of her mother’s favorite food memories. From Lee’s porch, they then “spoke” to Mom, when suddenly the clouds parted and Grandmother Moon cast her light across the pitch black sky. The next morning Lee painted that moment and titled it, “I Love You Too.”
NFS
Protect the Sacred - Cordillera Mountains 2020
Watercolor and mixed media, 2020
12” x 15”
Lee noticed that Global Witness, an international nongovernmental organization, had identified the Philippines as the most murderous country for environmental and human rights defenders. This resistance, full of solidarity, was rooted in the legacy of Indigenous worldwide to live in balance with Mother Earth. In 2019, the Philippines backed forces that attempted to silence journalist Brandon Lee from advocating for the Indigenous farmers and peasants to protect their sacred lands projects including mega-hydropower projects.
NFS
Protect the Sacred
Watercolor and mixed media, 2019
16” x 12”
On May 6, 2019, Lee was heartbroken to see a young whale lying motionless on Ocean Beach as she should have been swimming freely in the Pacific Ocean. Lee found it haunting that this whale was among the 46 in her sacred family to die due to manmade causes in the past year, as Oil tankers take the same routes as the whales. “Protect the Sacred” highlights the importance of taking action and learning to live in balance with Mother Earth.
NFS
Solidarity with Wet'suwet'en and Secwememc Warriors 2019
Watercolor and mixed media, 2019
20” x 14”
In 2018 Pam Tau Lee had the honor of meeting Grandmother Nancy Scanie. Grandmother is a Grand Elder and Keeper of the Waters of the Cold Lake Dene First Nation in Alberta Canada. Over the next year, Grandmother and Lee had weekly chats where Lee learned about her work to stop the dredging of Tar Sands crude and about the Wet’suwet’en Nation and Secwepemc Territory people to block the shipping of the crude to Bay Area refineries. In May 2019 Lee paid homage to a whale that was washed onto the shore at Ocean Beach where it was speculated that the whale was hit by an oil tanker. This painting was inspired by Grandmother to highlight her work, and the struggle of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, the Secwepemc people and Idle No More - SF Bay to keep fossil fuels in the ground, protect the sacred and to learn to live in balance with Mother Earth.
NFS
Protect the Sacred - Matriate the Land
Mixed media, 2021
16” x 13”
On March 11, 2021, Lee was shocked to learn that the California Coastal King Salmon was considered a threatened species in an article by San Francisco Chronicle’s Tara Duggan. “Prior to settler development and extraction, the landscapes and life ways of Ohlone territory were richly abundant with acorns, grass seeds, wildflowers, elk, salmon, grizzly bears, and berries,” these words spoken by Corrina Gould leader of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan, rang in Lee’s ears. Lee was moved to paint Corrina Gould and Chief Caleen Sisk of the Winnemem Wintu to uplift their prayers to Rematriate the Land and “Protect the Sacred Salmon.”
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Priya Kaur Handa
Our Grandmother‘s Revolution
Acrylic and Aerosol on Canvas, 2021
30” x 40”
This piece represents the revolution our grandmother has been waiting for--that we are seeing the fruits of the seed she sowed, and the uprising is long overdue before her time. In addition, it is a tribute to the elderly women marching the frontlines from Punjab to Delhi, most of whom are grandmothers, to fight and defend their land as farmers.
$1,100
The Nihang’s Side
Acrylic and Aerosol on Canvas, 2021
30” x 40”
This piece is dedicated to our warriors, the Nihangs, and the work they have contributed over the years to Punjab. Nihang translates to ‘crocodile’ because the Mughals said they fought ferociously like crocodiles. It is said anyone who lives free of fear is called a ‘Nihang.’ Right now farmers are protesting and marching at great lengths to defend their livelihood and the livelihood of the next generation. To do this requires to be free of fear, like the Nihangs.
$1,100
Radical Family Farms
Leslie Wiser, Sarah Deragon, Jess Wu & Meenal Patel
Photography, Hand Lettering, Illustration, Graphic Design, 2020
Photos: 11” x 14”
Calendar: 12” x 12”
T-shirt: 25” x 15”
Wine bottle: 14” x 9”.
Radical Family Farm's pieces all share various aspects of the farm's first two seasons. By creating photographs of the weekly harvests with the specific vegetables/herbs written out in English & Mandarin the farm was able to provide their community with educational opportunities along with culinary adventures. The t-shirt and calendar are pieces of awesome swag that CSA members and farm supporters could purchase to support the farm and it's mission. And Dyke Wine is a labor of love as it is a small batch vineyard that is harvested and hand pressed by the Wiser family.
Photos: $100/each
Calendar: $50
T-shirt: $35
Wine bottle: NFS
Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt
Self-Portrait (with/as) Cotton
Digital Inkjet Print, 2021
40" x 25"
In August 2019, Goldschmidt nurtured two cotton seeds to sprout and began a journey of care that changed their understanding of global history, textile production and trade, and expanded their relationship with Philippine weaving and fiber practices. This collection of images is a self-portrait of our collaborative existence which isn’t new - our ancestral spiritualities, cultures, and economies were based on deep care for and understanding of our plant relations. In reconnecting with cotton, Goldschmidt found that the plant themself shares their wisdom of patience, resilience, and great possibility for growth within ourselves and in our relationships with others.
$1000
Sunshine G. Velasco
Water is Life
Photography, 2016
44” x 37.25”
Standing Rock, 2016. Nearly a dozen Pacific NorthWestern tribes came to defend and protect the water of the Mississippi River. "Water is Life, Oil kills.”
NFS
Mauna Kea
Photography, 2019
24” x 20” framed
On July 19, 2019 - Indigenous and Hawaiian Leaders, community organizers, environmental activists, scientists and hundreds of community members held a gathering at the UC Berkeley campus to let the world know the Bay stands with Mauna Kea, against the development of a 18 story telescope on the sacred mountain of Mauna Kea.
Community organizers demanded peacefully for the UC Berkeley Administration to stop supporting and to divest from TMT desecration.
NFS
Standing Rock
Photography, 2016
24” x 20” framed
“WATER IS LIFE!”
NFS
Youth vs Apocalypse
Photography, 2019
20” x 24” framed
San Francisco, CA - On September 20th, 2019 the Global Climate Strike was led by Youth vs Apocalypse, where thousands of youth marched to demand changes in our government policies, as well as the corporations who have impacted the climate crisis.
NFS
Tenzin Tsering (Tenzoni)
Farmer's Love
Gouache and Watercolor, 2018
10” x 8” each
Illustrated Diptych with a limited colour scheme, both based on the theme of farming. The first illustration talks about a farmer's love for her craft. The second one talks about the effects of climate change on the environment and how it breaks the farmer's heart.
$100
Mountain Climbing and Pollution
Digital, 2020
11” x 17”
Mount Everest is now over polluted as a direct result of travellers looking to climb the mountain for their own satisfaction. This illustration visually synthesizes outdoor recreation (mountain climbing) with ongoing environmental issues (material waste/pollution) to demonstrate how our personal benefits from nature come at a massive cost.
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Campfires and Wildfires
Digital, 2020
11” x 17”
The majority of wildfires are caused by human carelessness. The leading human-caused wildfires are the direct result of illegal bonfires or campfires left unattended by irresponsible travellers and campers, especially in places with increasingly warmer climates. This illustration visually synthesizes outdoor recreation (mountain climbing) with ongoing environmental issues (material waste/pollution) to demonstrate how our personal benefits from nature come at a massive cost.
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Tricia Rainwater-Tutwiler
Medicine (Ikhish) Tree
Video, 2021
In the video of Medicine Tree, Tricia Rainwater-Tutwiler merges her self-portrait work with video documentation of her own personal ceremony in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. In the video, she spends time lovingly hanging prayer ties created collaboratively years before from trees throughout the woods. During the process, she connects with the traditions of her family as well as touching upon her own grief and loss in a process of public mourning.
NFS
Medicine (Ikhish) Tree
Photograph, 2021 48” x 36”
Redwood shadow boxes 8” x 8”
Medicine Tree is an exploration and reclamation of traditional ways. The project is an effort to heal oneself and the world around her by revisiting her family and her people's traditions. In Medicine Tree, Tricia Rainwater-Tutwiler grapples with losing traditional practices and reclaims ceremony taught to her as a child. Through these works, Tricia spends time in nature, holding space for what has been lost and making space for what can be.
$2,000
Wen-hao Tien
Ice Play
Video, 2019
TRT: 2 mins
Ice Play is a montage of multiple scenarios set on a frozen pond. The surface of the frozen pond is canvas for a sequence of actions - sensorial, meaningless and absurd: a leashed rock circling on the hard surface of ice; a woman chasing her own thoughts; sanding; cutting; measuring. Is the pond a meaningless void? Can the torch melt the ice and create rain? Are we all going to fall into the melting pond? The story does not have to be epic, only something we are thinking at the moment, some of the time, or all of the time.
Please inquire for screening fee at exhibitions@aawaa.net