Some people radiate passion; their vibrancy exuding from every pore, every gesture, and for some, every stroke of the brush. Diane Burko is one of those people. In Diane Burko: Extraction, A Dialogue of Extremes at Rowan University Museum of Contemporary Art, her artwork reflects her dynamic nature alongside the natural landscapes she depicts.
Having begun her artistic practice as a landscape artist in the early 1970s, she has since redefined her work to elicit a global and environmental impact. "What drives my environmentally focused practice is curiosity—the need to learn more. My research begins remotely, then [continues] on site as I bear witness to an actual place for a more experiential encounter, as well as collaborating with scientists to further enrich my understanding,” explains Burko.
For Burko, the shift occurred around 2006 after familiarizing herself with Al Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth, and the book Field Notes from a Catastrophe by author Elizabeth Kolbert. Both projects warn their audiences of the dangers of climate change, labeled “global warming” at the time. Burko is now able to look back on that year as what she calls her “aha moment.”
