Diane Burko

“An artist must be open to new ideas to continue to develop. You need to embrace new technologies and also be aware of the world around you…This credo allows me to stay passionate about our planet’s future health.”

Diane Burko has explored monumental geological phenomena in her artwork for over 40 years. But she is much more than a landscape artist; she is after much more than a beauty angle of the natural world. For the past 15 years, she has focused on the intersection of art, science, and the environment. What ties these spheres of interest together is climate change.  As a painter and photographer – who also creates videos she refers to as “time-based media”—Diane highlights the real-time changes scientists are observing in our natural world. Initially this meant investigating glaciers in retreat and sea-level rise. More recently, she has focused on coral reefs devastated by ecosystems. Diane travels all over the world, accompanying scientific explorers on expeditions on the ground, underwater, and in the air. It’s not unusual for her to capture views from open-door helicopters and drones.

A highly prolific artist, Diane has had numerous solo exhibitions all over the country, at museums and galleries, scientific and educational institutions. An artist-activist, she forces the viewer to consider our own part in the global ecosystem. “I don't think you can exist in the 21st century,” she states, “without having a conscience about the context that you’re living in, about the world that we have created, and about the world that we can still have if we change the trajectory.”

how does innovation influence your work?

“‘Innovation’ is tied to creativity. An artist must be open to new ideas to continue to develop, you need to embrace new technologies and also be aware of the world around them. That is wha drives my practice. It provides the motivation to be open to new materials, visual strategies and intellectual ideas. It allows me to stay passionate about our planets future health.”

Biography:

Landscape has been a constant for over 40 years, but almost 15 years ago, I relocated my practice to the intersection of art, science and the environment, embracing issues of climate change. I began by investigating glacial melt and sea level rise and am currently focused on our oceans and coral reef ecosystems in particular.

To that end, I Investigate locations on the ground, underwater and in the air from open-door helicopters and planes with cameras, drones and sketchpads. My inclination to witness, translate, and communicate scientific information through paintings, photographs and time-based media is how I personally and professionally counter climate doubt – it is my way of entering into the public discourse. With the current pandemic, now more than ever: we are all in this together is apparent.