JOIN USAsher Jay is no ordinary artist. She employs the medium of art to drive home the message of wildlife conservation. arundhati Pattabhiraman attempts to decipher the thought behind the artist, designer, conservationist’s artworks.
“When I wake up each morning, I am not human until someone places me within that box; I am not woman, until someone places me in that box! When I wake up, I am a blank canvas, and I feel like I am everything,” says Asher Jay, artist, designer, conservationist, who is known for her strong voice and even stronger artworks that decry the exploitation of wildlife and the eco-system as a whole.
Speaking about the different hats she dons as a creator of art and protector of wildlife, the India-born artist explains, “All these titles slap themselves onto me as each day wears on. To embrace them will only limit what I can be and do tomorrow, so I refuse to abide by them. Having said that, I will add that I deeply care for life on earth, both human and wild, because we are all interdependent!” And her art and designs clearly reflect this interdependency.
A lot on her plate
From being a fashion designer to a wildlife activist, Asher continues to dabble in different fields and has now adopted the title ‘Creative Conservationist’. However, she refuses to be compartmentalised. “I don’t care for labels — they immediately make you one thing and not the other. The only reason why I even adopted the label ‘Creative Conservationist’ is because it is the vaguest career title I could conceive of.”
Asher’s efforts to highlight the degeneration of the eco-system bore fruits after she was named one of National Geographic’s ‘Emerging Explorers’. Her most popular conservation campaigns have been against illegal ivory trade, an ambitious project aimed at China’s ivory-hungry rising middle class, poaching of tigers for the tiger bone cake, and she has even participated in Faberge Big Egg Hunt in New York. “I am driven by passion, for life and the magic and abundance this planet holds within its generous seams. I save the world’s threatened wildlife, and by extension people, with my creativity. I use cause-driven art, sculpture, design installations, fashion, films and advocacy advertising campaigns to bring attention to everything from oil spills to women’s empowerment,” she says.
Her works are known to project the chilling realities of wildlife conditions around the world, and invoke worldwide outrage against crimes against nature. “The unique power of art is that, unlike spoken languages, the visual language transcends differences, connects with people on a visceral level, and compels action. My best known work spotlights the illegal trade in ivory and rhino horn. In 2013, I visualised the blood-ivory story on a huge animated billboard in Times Square (New York). The billboard received over 1.5 million views over the course of a month, when it streamed 24/7,” says the artist, whose love for wildlife began at a very early age and egged her on to take more responsibility.
Asher was educated at Parsons The New School for Design, New York where she received a BFA in Fashion Design and an AAS in Fashion Marketing. She has embraced her passion for wildlife conservation and has also managed to incorporate some of her core beliefs in her design labels. But, what is her take on unethical practices, like the use of fur in the fashion industry? “I say a resounding no to fur. I don’t care if it is your great grandmother’s coat or your family heirloom. Hand it over to the right authorities, better yet, burn it. In wearing a so-called hand-me down ‘vintage’ coat, you are only perpetuating demand for the product in today’s market. Just because we were spiritually devolved and daft in the past does not mean we have to keep repeating patterns of idiocy in the present and future,” she says.
Encounters in wilderness
As an active conservationist, Asher has managed to get hands-on experience during her visit to several wildlife reserves in Africa and has carried out several activities in Serengeti. Recalling one of her memorable experiences, Asher says, “Once, while I was sleeping in a tent in Barafu, I was awakened at the dead of night by my flight or fright instinct, which had activated in response to a pride of lions inhaling my scent through the tent fabric while circling around my space. I thought I was going to die that night. But I chose to rise above my fear and breathe in sync with the lions — we inhaled and exhaled together for over an hour, which was so exhilarating and intoxicating that I forgot I was in danger. I didn’t sleep a wink that night, but I have never felt more alive, more enriched, and connected than I did that night. I have a deeper appreciation for lions now than I did before that trip.”
According to the young artist, greed is the main cause for the rampant poaching of tigers and rhinos in India. “The rhino being butchered mercilessly for its horn, and the tiger being slain, trapped and poisoned for the trade in skin, blood and bone only asserts the fundamental loss of value for life on earth. We barely value human life. If we cannot, in this day and age, unite as a species, what is the hope for other species?” she points out. Her posters for All Eyes on Stripes campaign and Black Trade White Ivory are quiet telling of these gruesome crimes.
Apart from creating beautiful works of art, how important is it for an artist to have some kind of social responsibility? Asher explains, “Art for art’s sake is an antiquated and irresponsible approach to both art and life. Artists have the rare ability to challenge culture, question society, and cast a light on the truths of a given time, so how they wield the weapon matters. Also, artists absolutely need to take responsibility for the kind of materials they use to create their work. Everything has an ecological footprint, costs that aren’t accounted for at most auction houses, galleries or contemporary museums.
We should grow more aware as a species, as to what we support and condone as ‘culture’.”And what other projects does this feisty artist have in the pipeline? “The disintegration of lion prides due to poorly regulated trophy hunting quotas in South Africa, Botswana and East Africa, other wildlife trafficking stories (exotic pets — cheetahs, lovebirds, parrots, tigers, tropical fish for the aquarium trade), and the impact of climate change on biodiversity loss. Truth be told, we are driving every living creature on the face of this planet to the brink of extinction. So, you can see why it is hard for me to have a schedule, or care for a sense of identity,” says the outspoken artist.
When asked about the one advice she would like to give the citizens of the world, her answer couldn’t have been more heartfelt. “If I could have people do one thing to help save planet Earth’s incredible array of biodiversity, it would be this: take a step outside your home, your life, and yourself, and spend five minutes observing and listening to any living being that isn’t human. It can be a tree, an insect, a bird. Connect to it fully, allow yourself to be a bug, a bird, or a tree in that minute. If you can see a bug in you and you in that bug, you will do something different tomorrow that you haven’t done thus far. Care enough to connect!” she rests her case.