Dhama Thanigasapapathy
painter
Connor Butler
entomologist
What a fantastic evening that was! The painter Dhama Thanigasapapathy started us off by talking about "Something Lost", her recent body of work that draws upon her relationship with the power of nature and references the different kinds of losses that occur as the environment changes around us. She showed us how art can contribute to the conversation around climate change by offering visually compelling stories that can lead to a re-imagining of other (more optimistic?) futures. The conversation that followed took us down many different paths and left us contemplating our own role in the future we'll be leaving as our legacy.
Following Dhama, the entomologist and educator Connor-the-ecologist-Butler provided us with a provocation of another sort as he engaged everyone in a lively discussion about the world of insects and the nature of disgust. Connor got us all thinking - and talking - about what we find disgusting and why, exploring both the cultural and evolutionary reasons behind our feelings. Along the way he also opened us up to the "queering of ecology": from beetle penises to the gender fluidity of the gingko tree, Connor showed us how nature is filled with glorious ambiguity. It was a great way to end what was an inspiring evening of lively conversation, brilliant speakers and a fantastic audience.
02Sep25
The Devereux / London
Dhama Thanigasapapathy gained a first-class BA (Hons) Painting from the Open College of the Arts in 2023, also winning the prestigious 2023 Freelands Painting Prize. She is a London based, British artist whose work is informed by her interest in science, science fiction, psychology, futurism and her life-long fascination with the awesome power and chaotic beauty of extreme climatic phenomena.
Dhama uses painting to relate to the changing environment, allowing the flows, drips and chemical interactions of paint to echo natural processes. Her semi-figurative speculative landscape paintings are imaginative renderings of future possibilities where extreme climatic forces transform, dissolve and erase constructs over time and space. She believes that showing this phenomenon through her artwork will lead viewers to consider the fate of the natural environment.
web: www.dhamat.com
Instagram: @dhama100
Connor Butler is an entomologist and educator on a mission to make people notice and appreciate the smaller details in nature. He specialises in dung beetles and can often be found looking for nature in the grossest of places. His recent work focuses on Queer Ecology, challenging traditional ideas about what is considered “natural” or “unnatural”. Over 2,000 people have taken part in his Queer Ecology walks and talks so far, delivered with organisations such as London Wildlife Trust, The Royal Parks, Garden Museum, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, WWF, Mammal Society, and others.
Instagram: @Connor_the_ecologist
image - Connor Butler