Nature, women and art: Examining the eco-feminist insights in Lucy Azubuike's tree trunk series

Abstract

Ecofeminist theorists advanced varied notions of collaborative activism for both women‟s rights and the environment from the late 1960s. Ecofeminism links the exploitation of nature and women to a shared patriarchal construct of ownership, domination and self-interest. Africa provides many instances where capitalist initiatives have caused environmental degradation of adverse monumental consequences on women with Nigeria not being an exception. Ecofeminist activism also inspired feminist artists from the late 1960s to merge environmental awareness with feminist concerns. However, there is scanty scholarly investigation into Nigerian women‟s ecofeminist artistic projects. In this essay I explore the ecofeminist potentialities in the artistic projects of Lucy Azubuike, a female Nigerian artist. By invoking the theories of ecofeminism, I examine the interconnectedness of environmental degradation and Nigerian women‟s rights in Azubuike‟s Tree trunk series. I also employ formal and contextual methods of analysis to engage Azubuike‟s Tree trunk series. In exploring Azubuike‟s Tree Trunk series within Nigeria‟s gendered cultural and social realities, I argue that the imageries and themes reflect eco-feminist ideologies.