Can my Climate Grief be Mended I

Dylan McGarry uses Joanna Macy's "Work That Reconnects" as a framework for individuals to explore their connections to the natural world and cultivate empathy and responsibility. By creating spaces for gatherings, dialogues, and rituals, he began with himself, finding a way to have a tactile conversation with materials, with images that were arising, as a way to hold other conversations with friends and family. 

These watercolour paintings, which he had screen printed on hemp linen, became a sanctuary where he could wit(h)ness the ecological crisis and other poly-crises, with himself and with others. Inevitably, he would be stitching these at family gatherings or with friends, and the work would guide their conversations and musings.

This concept of sanctuary aligns with Bayo Akomolafe's idea that collective action and support are essential during times of ecological crisis. Donna Haraway's concept of "staying with the trouble" helps Dylan in this work, with each stitch and mindful practice of ‘mending’ these images in his mind, he is able to stay or dwell on difficult realities with more generosity and creativity than usual. 

The practice of runner stitch, or boro as it is referred to in Japan, allows Dylan to practice mending as a daily embodied and tactile reality, and in some way that helps him stay present and not shy away from the challenges posed by the ecological and humanitarian crises we face today.