From The Straits Times    |
her-world-climate-activist-singapore-dorcas-tang

In the third of this four-part Earth Day series, we speak to artist and climate activist Dorcas Tang about why self-care and the environment are intertwined.

Climate justice might seem like a lofty concept for some, but for artist and climate activist Dorcas Tang, it’s very simple – it all boils down to what one values. “It’s not that we don’t know about climate change, but our systems are built such that we rarely have the mental capacity to think about it, because we are constantly focused on surviving,” the eloquent 22-year-old says. “However, planetary-, community- and self-care are all interconnected.”

Dorcas, who is a designer with an architecture firm by day and a prolific artist by night, creates infographics on her Instagram account (@earthtodorcas) that aim to break down complex environmental issues into bite-sized, easy-to-understand content. Candidly, she shares how she first created the infographics to help herself better understand the high-brow technical knowledge she encountered in her research.

An illustration by Dorcas Tang

“There was a lot of jargon, a lot of science stuff that I didn’t understand fully,” she says. “The learning curve is very steep, but I hope that by doing the research, others don’t have to.”

As someone who confesses to previously being apathetic about climate action and thinking Singapore “only had pigeons”, Dorcas’ current role as a vocal climate activist is quite a departure from where she was just a few years ago. She credits her switch to being an environmentalist to friends who were in that space and nurtured her budding interest.

Dorcas sees the role of climate activists as the canary in the coal mine, and to remind others of the larger picture. “Nothing can happen on a planet that is unstable,” she declares.

To that end, she sees her artwork as a storytelling vehicle to “remind people how everything is connected, and what is at stake”.

One of her proudest achievements to date is a community mural she worked on in collaboration with the Boon Lay Residents’ Committee (RC) and the Singapore Nature Society. Titled “Birds in our Backyard”, the mural was an initiative designed to bring Boon Lay residents closer to nature. A big part of the initiative was to involve members of the community, so young children from the neighbourhood were invited to help paint the mural.

“We only expected one or two kids to show up for an afternoon, but by the second day, they’d invited the entire kampung down to help paint,” she recalls with a laugh. “As we painted the mural, they were asking questions about the different types of birds, and we talked to them about the birds’ migratory patterns… it was a great way to have a conversation [about the environment] without coming across as preachy.”

After the success of the first mural, Dorcas was invited back to create a second mural in the neighbourhood in early February. She’s also currently working on an e-resource on coral conservation for the Tropical Marine Science Institute, and is illustrating a card game that aims to demonstrate how humans can help bees better navigate the urban environment.

Even as she juggles multiple climate action projects, Dorcas says she does occasionally grapple with whether or not her work is making an impact. However, she approaches climate justice with a sanguine view.

“My philosophy is that I don’t know if it will change anything, but I know it’s the right thing to do,” she shares. “None of us really know if the work we do matters, but we just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and make the right choices with whatever information we have at the time.”

PHOTOGRAPHY Lawrence Teo
ART DIRECTION & STYLING Adeline Eng
HAIR & MAKEUP Aung Apichai, using Tom Ford Beauty & Kevin Murphy