Ephemeral Ecosystems: Examining Temporality and Sustainability in the Land Art of Andy Goldsworthy and Ana Mendieta
Cultural Studies Salon Seminar
Event Details
-
Thursday, March 6, 2025
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Traill College
Building: Scott House
Room: 105
This talk explores the relationship between temporality, sustainability, and ecological art through the work of land artists Andy Goldsworthy and Ana Mendieta. In contrast to more permanent and extractive works like Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty, which have been critiqued for their destructive engagement with the land, Goldsworthy and Mendieta present alternative approaches to environmental art. By prioritizing ephemerality and ecological sensitivity, these artists challenge traditional notions of permanence and monumentality in art. Goldsworthy's site-specific sculptures, constructed from materials sourced directly from nature, embody an acceptance of impermanence, with each piece returning to the landscape as part of a natural cycle. Similarly, Mendieta's Silueta Works explore the intersection of land and body, offering a deeply personal and transitory reflection on her hybrid identity as a Cuban American woman. This paper investigates how both artists use temporality and an eco-centric ethos to reflect on the broader issues of environmental sustainability, colonial legacies, and the human-nature relationship. Through their work, Goldsworthy and Mendieta redefine the potential for land art to transcend extraction, offering a sustainable vision of art that honors both the land and its histories.
Kathryn Last is an interdisciplinary scholar, abstract painter, mental health advocate, and educator, currently a PhD candidate at Trent University. Specializing in the intersection of trauma, embodiment, and artmaking, she draws on diverse methodologies to explore the transformative potential of creative practice. Kathryn holds an M.A. in Cultural Studies, with a focus on Visual Arts Research-Creation, where her work examined the intricate relationship between grief and its representation, particularly through the lens of artistic responses to trauma.
Her doctoral research delves deeper into the impact of trauma across three interconnected domains: the embodied experience of trauma, the landscape as both a physical and psychic space, and artmaking as a mode of healing and expression. Combining critical theory, embodied practice, and new materialism, Kathryn’s work seeks to understand how art can facilitate both personal and collective healing. At the heart of her research is the concept of Research-Creation, a framework she employs to bridge theory with practice through community-engaged, practice-led methodologies.
Kathryn has presented her work at the 2024 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, where she contributed to sessions for the Association of Phenomenology & Existentialism and the Association of Environmental Studies and has co-chaired panels for the Association of Sociology and the Association of Social Work. She is also an active member of the Trent Arts Research Group. With over a decade of experience as a teaching assistant, Kathryn has supported courses in Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Integrated Arts, and more, demonstrating her commitment to educational mentorship.
In addition to her academic pursuits, Kathryn is a practicing artist whose work has been featured in British Vogue and Create Magazine and has been showcased in collaborations with brands like Dove and Winsor & Newton. Her artworks have been exhibited across Canada and internationally, in both solo and group exhibitions. Kathryn’s art practice, rooted in her academic research, continues to explore how artistic processes can engage with trauma and emotional resilience, forging connections between theory, community, and creative expression.
Dr. Mark Allwood Portillo (he/him) is a scholar and artist whose work engages with landscape art, film studies, aesthetics, and postcolonial criticism. His current research includes a practice-based study of reclaimed landscapes in Canada and Latin America, a documentary project exploring the experiences of the Latin American diaspora in Canada, and a series of documentary films examining human-made landscapes in Canada. His previous projects have involved interdisciplinary collaborations with faculty at York University and the Central American University in El Salvador, focusing on trauma and resilience in post-war Salvadoran society. Dr. Allwood Portillo is currently a sessional instructor in the Cultural Studies program at Trent University.