Art at the nexus of war, the environment, and distress. This week on Inside The Warehouse, artist Jill Sebastian tells us about the inspiration behind “Anchor”, a piece featured in the On the Nature of Wisconsin exhibition.

Jill Sebastian, "Anchor" (1990) lithograph on paper

“Simply put, Anchor is a valentine to the world. During the Gulf War, I anguished about the war's immediate, severe devastation of our global environment. The heart-shaped (Werner) map projection dates back to the renaissance age of exploration. Commonly used through the 18th century, this diagram promoted a belief that inner emotions can affect the physical world. As I listened daily to the morning news, my world felt abstract as though shifting, splitting apart, rejoining, cloning and disintegrating. Grasping my morning cup of coffee felt intimately more real, solid. Realizing the only way anyone can see the world as a whole is from space, I launched my cup as a satellite. From this vantage point I can ask, what can one person do?”

-Jill Sebastian