Christine Brunella invites us on a jaunt through nature.

Contrary to ancient times, when natural phenomena were considered acts of the gods, or even divine punishment, modern humans always think of themselves in relation to Mother Nature. Their successors, humans of the Anthropocene epoch, are caught at the center of the action as the perpetrators behind the balance in nature being lost and regulatory mechanisms spinning out of control—falling victims themselves along with all other living beings. Christine Brunella offers us a fresh perspective: A moving sense of belonging, unity and resonance emerges, filled with amazement by the marvel, the visible manifestation of nature, living in harmony with flora and fauna, in admiration of the beauty in natural forms of existence, and echoing this newfound awareness.
All of her pieces hint at the current, overtly precarious moment in the history of nature and humankind in which we, for all intents and purposes, blindly relinquish the basis of our existence by depleting our natural resources in exchange for technological advances. A last glance at sites of natural beauty that have been lost forever. Are they now just artistic replicas to be found in a museum, skillfully composed in multiple layers?

We can imagine Christine Brunella as a wayfarer ambling through nature, or whatever is left of it today, in the face of the dystopia. And as an artist uniting with the forces of nature to resist that dystopia, creating illustrated spaces that afford observers an inspiring encounter with the beauty and transience of nature. This gives rise to a nature that does little to dispel the notion of our own evanescence and the peril we have brought upon ourselves.

The artist adheres strictly to the black and white format chosen to portray her drawings, representing an artistic decision on her part. Or, more precisely: a clear format within which she can move freely, considering clear rules at her discretion and contriving clever experiments with the materials.

Nature is not just an object in the drawings, it is also the subject—at least insofar as the artist proclaims her belonging to nature in her drawing, bearing witness to her allegiance to the earth, and transposing this experience onto paper. By tuning into and harmonizing with the act of experiencing nature, this approach, in turn, is able to generate solidarity—with the drawing and its maker, the artist’s oneness with nature. And thus, the observers experience in their own right an individual nature, along with an individual connection to human nature and a bond with the biological species surrounding mankind, forced to bear the burden of the inner turmoil that we have caused ourselves in the Anthropocene epoch.

Writer: Julia Malcherek