Relational Neuroscience & Art: A Love Story

"I want to tell you a love story. It spans 20 years. A woman exploring tide pools was approached by a 24-legged sunflower sea star who came out of the sea grass, touching her shoe and exploring her pant leg. The woman fell in love with that beautiful creature, and it changed her life forever. The woman is me, an artist, psychotherapist, and student of Relational Neuroscience and Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB). In my role as an artist, my work addresses climate change and climate injustice. In 2010, I began my artistic collaboration with Helen Klebesadel, a wonderful human and extremely talented artist. We met a few years prior as teacher and student when I took a watercolor workshop with her. We quickly became friends and art colleagues. Our deepening connection led us to collaborate on an art project of our vibrantly colored, large scale watercolor paintings. These works would speak to the heart of our planets climate crises..." In 2015 The Flowers are Burning: An Art and Climate Justice Project, was launched as a website and exhibition series. Artists Mary Kay Neumann and Helen Klebesadel see the flowers as metaphors of power found in unexpected places, and the project itself as a way to evoke both awareness and agency around the devastating effects of climate change. In this essay Mary Kay Neumann draws thoughtful connections between art, climate change, relational neuroscience and injustice.

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