Our newest Affiliated Artist is Liia Suprunenko, a Ukranian student working in digital art, sculpture, and design to raise awareness about climate change and environmental problems. Read on to get to know the newest artist in the Alliance family!
“Art, compared to other fields, speaks to people on a deeper level. It sticks with you. As a part of a new generation I want to be vocal, and I don't want to wait for somebody to solve issues that I will have to live with in the future.”
Liia is a 17 year old Ukrainian artist currently living in California. For the past couple of years she has been working in digital art, sculpture, drawing, and architectural design. Her main focus has always been raising awareness about climate change and problems of the modern world - check out her unique perspective below.
Climate Science Alliance (Alliance): Why do you create art to bring awareness to global issues?
Liia Suprunenko (Liia): I grew up in a world full of technology. Ever since I remember, I had a phone in my hand and moved around the city only in the car. Nothing seemed wrong, but as time passed by I started to notice articles on the internet saying how people are polluting the planet. After, I started to notice articles about how people can change the planet for the better by doing small things. Because I was a child, I brushed them off and didn’t investigate the problem deeper. Now I realize that almost every person, no matter how young or old, does the same thing. We see an article and ignore it. We tweet about the problem, but do nothing about solving it. We can change our habits. There is still hope for the planet and humanity, but it is in our hands to help.
Alliance: Why do you hope people take away from your work?
Liia: My work is about everyday things that can help to fight pollution and climate change. I hope that my pieces remind people that there are small things in our life that we can change in order to help. Often people think that only big corporations are responsible for pollution and our environment. They dismiss the idea of cutting out some habits in their life to help. They usually just walk away, not caring about the future of the planet.
In my opinion, art can change people’s opinion about the life they live. There is still hope for a better environment and world and we can change the planet starting now.
Liia’s work is a contribution to the Climate Science Alliance’s upcoming exhibition RISE - celebrating what it means to be resilient in the face of climate change.
Learn more about our Affiliated Artists program here: