We were lucky to catch up with Ners Neonlumberjack recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ners, thanks for joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
Being surrounded by the vast and diverse American landscape fills me with joy. Creating physical manifestations of my ideas fills me with a sense of wonder and accomplishment. Technically speaking, I am permanent artist in residence at Zion National Park. Something I think about everyday is having a regular job. As of the time writing this I am a National Park Ranger, and reside in the park. Rangers are so romanticized. I mean, what’s not to love!? Seeing sunrise and sunset over Zion Canyon each and every work day when I am not traveling elsewhere is astonishing. But a day job is a day job. I am always a full time artist, nothing will ever diminish that fact. I photograph throughout my day, I discover new things, learn as I explore, and my ideas flow constantly. But the ever-present motivation to flee and discover areas new to me, persists. Freedom and a sense of home are at a constant struggle within me. This job is just that, it’s not my life. It keeps my fellow rangers on their toes knowing I am capable and willing to leave any day I desire, and I know I will soon enough. The great expanse of land that we stole and now manage beckons for my company. Rather than feeling art is a fleeting interest, giving up some of my freedom for an opportunity to take the time to absorb a place so many get to experience for only a few days has changed my perspective. Most for the better, and some for a delightful dose of the opposite.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
As a child, everyone is an artist, I just never stopped. My art making practice is environmentally themed, focused, and sustainable. From two-dimensional works of animals and vivid coloration, to my three-dimensional works made directly onto the same imagery I draw and paint, my work focuses on the natural world around us. My canvasses are sticks, stones, bones, logs, feathers, skulls, antlers, and other natural materials I encounter on my travels. No personal need to question the sourcing and ethical nature of my materials, as I know exactly how they came to be in my possession from the source.
The use of bright color on each material is a sort of portraiture. The material informs what is painted onto it just as much as my ideas are projected onto that material. My works draw one in. Invite you to examine closer something you may very well take for granted, or might even be repulsed by. Bones are a constant source of inspiration for me. Now, I love the idea to make art on a bison or cougar, but there are obvious reasons why that is impractical to say the least. So the remnants of these amazing beings become artworks themselves. Each and every work has an underlying reference to mortality. Bones are unquestionable, but one typically does not see a stick or log and think of it being a deceased tree. The contrast of choice imagery, material, and coloration is ever-present. Americans love their gratuitous violent imagery, and perhaps this percolates through, but my intent is a more subtle reminder that we will one day see the same fate, and if we do not change our ways our own species may very well end up like so many others we have diminished or eradicated entirely. Do enjoy life as it takes place though. Cherish the details. And if my work elicits an urge to explore the natural world around us I may have just done a great job at conveying my own desires.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Not once, but twice, I have almost died in a sandstorm in National Parks. The first being in Death Valley. How apt. Panamint Dunes are a breathtaking scene of beauty and beckon to be seen closer. A bright and clear day, with a great hike not too warm, the dunes seem so absolutely far away and the surreal veil of atmosphere gets lifted as you approach.
Once there, the shifting sands have no foot prints but your own. Climbing up to the peaks and overlooking the expansive valley below is wondrous. Except when I started to see dust devils in the distance and the clear skies become hazy. It came quick, and the winds sandblasted my legs, and face when I came off of peaks. My hiking partner had climbed to a vantage point to yell to no avail, and flail their arms for my attention. Our tent had collapsed, with the gear inside. Winds were so fierce that we couldn’t access our water or pack up. And we began to drag the tent across the desert so many great miles from the trailhead. No relief from the strong and biting winds, we slowly hiked dragging the tent and 80lbs of gear behind. Visibility was nonexistent for hours, so a proper bearing was difficult. Guess where the compass was. Not with us of course, as the hike had clear visibility for landmark navigation, oops. In my head I just battled through the invasive thoughts that occurred. Thankfully after hours of slow progress, and wind whipped eyes the dust started to slow to manageable level. Nervous laughs commenced until getting back to the relative safety of the vehicle.
And then years later I almost died at White Sands.
I still chose to become a Park Ranger after the fact.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I strive to inspire. Occasionally I am the recipient of images of works others have created that were inspired by my art, or stories of fun nature finds on walks. I wholly welcome this! Art doesn’t have to be a career, and when it is it’s certainly not an easy one. My travels being an impetus to notice the little things in neighborhoods and backyards, seeing others create something after seeing something I have created, whether it be parents with their kids, to adults exploring new paints, to other creatives, it’s always a pleasure knowing that the ideas in my head that come to fruition into this world get others feeling, moving, and making.
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