The use of natural materials has been the subject matter researched on for contemporary art,
looking into a new trend of artists using organic elements in independent pieces. As well as a wider
set of insights into the drivers behind this shift, how artists go about it and its broader society-wide
implications. Based on a qualitative methodology — combining content analysis of works,
interviews with the artists and art curators; literature study—the research examines how natural
materials are moving beyond ornamentation to become inseparable from artworks—frequently
pointing out environmental issues.
The results imply that ephemerality is a concept of relevance to many modern artists, using
ephemeral natural resources and creating works which change, rot or disappear. This shift
represents a larger cultural pressure to acknowledge the temporary, precarious qualities of human
beingness that threaten resistant notions of high/low art or "the true and enduring." The research
also explores how such work frequently relates to issues of time, environmental sustainability and
human-nature relations that tend to constitute a form of ecocentric praxis.
This conversation moves between the pragmatic and ethical dilemmas concerning natural
materials, from attempting to make eco-friendly art and balancing that tension with practice-based
logistics. The study finds that using natural materials has become a major theme in contemporary
art, giving new grounds for the re-interpretation of arts and environmental cultural studies. The
research also calls for investigation of the potential use of natural substrates in other cultural
contexts and ethical approaches.