Within the Bittersweet

Within the Bittersweet is a dark pastoral examination of motherhood and the landscape as sites of connection to the Anthropocene. The photographs in the series were taken in and around my West Alabama home where dense vegetation and natural beauty belie the increasingly alarming escalation of climate change. Amid thick greenery, chemical and fossil fuel industries dot our region, spreading particulates and toxins across the terrain and into our bodies and the atmosphere. In my artwork, the dark realities of the landscape we live in are interlaced with representations of my deep love for my children and the physical world around us—a living landscape of incredible complexity that my daughters are only just coming to know. The climate crisis will undoubtedly reshape the world they inherit, and in my artwork I negotiate the beauty and heartbreak of raising them on a wondrous planet in the midst of change.

© Allison Grant - Thinking Child
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Thinking Child

© Allison Grant - Paper Mill Stacks
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Paper Mill Stacks

© Allison Grant - Petroleum Coke Storage Near the School
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Petroleum Coke Storage Near the School

© Allison Grant - Alone on the Path
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Alone on the Path

© Allison Grant - Log Yard, Georgia Pacific Paper Company
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Log Yard, Georgia Pacific Paper Company

© Allison Grant - Shadow Mother
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Shadow Mother

© Allison Grant - Back Yard
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Back Yard

© Allison Grant - Coal Road
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Coal Road

© Allison Grant - Acid Mine Drainage
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Acid Mine Drainage

© Allison Grant - Playing Alone
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Playing Alone

© Allison Grant - Winter Burn
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Winter Burn

© Allison Grant - Ruptured Dam
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Ruptured Dam

© Allison Grant - Long Summer Shadow
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Long Summer Shadow

© Allison Grant - Coal Pond Near Mines
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Coal Pond Near Mines

© Allison Grant - Watching
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Watching

© Allison Grant - A Chemical Fire Buns 800 Feet from my Children's School
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A Chemical Fire Buns 800 Feet from my Children's School

© Allison Grant - In the Vines
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In the Vines

© Allison Grant - After School
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After School

© Allison Grant - Slurry Runoff
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Slurry Runoff

© Allison Grant - Sisters
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Sisters

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