A MODERN GUILT

“If Nature were a place, we could not find it. If Nature was a state of mind, we could not attain it. We are something else and so is the world”

- Jedidiah Purdy ‘After Nature’

Textile collaboration with Allie Felton

All photography by Deb Leal

A Modern Guilt recognizes the intersectional nature of societal, environmental and socio-political problems. As the impact of self-serving behavior cripples both economies and the environment, a global pandemic exacerbates humanity’s impact. Self-prioritizing behaviors prove to have disastrous long term consequences for the environment—with plastic waste and greenhouse gases increasing exponentially. The undeniable relation to the capitalist structure cannot be ignored, living in a for-profit system prioritizes expression of self through consumerism and commodification. Pataky’s work investigates the origins of this mentality: “ I am reminded of myths, legends, and even biblical stories like Prometheus and Icarus, Babylon and more.”  

Due to its long history embedded in the capitalist system of consumerism, neon is an appropriate medium to address these behaviors with. A large mixed media sculpture anchors the exhibition, using approachable aesthetics like florals to provide a chilling message. Installed on a large wall of plastic wildflowers including Boreal native species like blackberries and Poppies, the word “repent” glows in a menacing goldenrod tone. While redemption has deep ties in Christianity, Pataky searches further in history for a connection to the ancient Greeks, for whom the concept signified changing course. In the Talmud, the idea of redemption was focused on ethical self-transformation. This emphasis on a paradigm shift rather than on grief and sin removes the ego from the necessity of immediate change. Repent is a call to action, demanding recognition that there’s no time for self-pity in the wake of larger global and societal issues. 

Pataky works predominantly with neon to consider the simultaneous decay of the natural world, and the origins and implications of society’s impact of this decay. At the same time, she reflects on the history of neon as a medium, and its own complicity in a capitalist and colonist structure. 

While Pataky has made flower walls with living flowers in the past, the installation warns of a future where only plastic replicas remain. The plastic flowers in this piece include replicas of poppies and blackberries, native of the Boreal region. Yet unlike the indigenous people that cultivated those lands and wildflowers, our exploitation of the land leaves no room to treasure these natural beauties. A scattering of dead bees completes the piece, a warning of the dire consequences of our carelessness. While the decision to use plastic flowers is a rational one (the flowers die in just a few days) they also pose an interesting question about the artwork as an artifact. Neon works are made to be completely rid of impurity and run on low voltage, making them suitable as a relic. This method of storytelling through a to-be artifact supplants neon’s origins in commercialism and consumerism, renewed with a didactic purpose.