ECOLOGICAL ARTS & SCIENCE
Research || Education || Expression
Why ecological art?
Our relationship with the natural world as humans is complicated, to say the least. We all yearn to feel connected to something greater than ourselves — something which explains why we’re here and what our purpose is. For this artist, nature is that answer.
Art is a powerful way to move its viewers in a deep and meaningful way. It stirs empathy, connection, and new perceptions of the world around us. And our perceptions inform our behaviors. If our perceptions of the natural world impact how we interact with it, and art changes our perceptions, then
art is a tool for ecological regeneration and human wellbeing.
“...and then, I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?”
- Vincent Van Gogh
Artist Biography
Juniper Vaughn is an interdisciplinary artist researching environmental sciences and human-ecological wellness and is based in northern New Mexico. She refers to her work as “Ecological Arts” since both it and the field of Ecology explore patterns and relationships between systems of living and nonliving things. By working with site-specific materials, such as soils and rocks for pigments, her work offers perspectives which can deepen and expand our appreciation and interaction with the natural world. Her educational background allows her to be a bridge between environmental sciences and the arts, using the arts as an instrument to incite more awareness, understanding, and reverence for life.
Juniper was born and raised in rural Texas and received a scholarship award in Fine Arts from Midwestern State University in 2017 but went on to study environmental sciences. She completed a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health & Wellness Management from Unity Environmental University in the Fall of 2024. Her work has been exhibited at Midwestern State University, Austin Community College in Texas, Taos Center for the Arts, Revolt Gallery, and Omnihum Gallery in Taos, New Mexico, where she was an artist in residence from March-June 2024.
