Amy Hibbs is a visual artist and environmentalist whose work addresses themes of belonging and empathy through interaction with the urban landscape. With a desire to increase healing for individuals, communities, and ecosystems, Hibbs uses a variety of media and techniques to highlight the dualities of joy and pain, beauty and disgust, slow and fast. Having received her master of fine arts from Mills College and the Graduate Affiliate Award from the Headlands Center for the Arts, Hibbs continues her art practice by way of cyanotype, painting, drawing, and more recently, branching into social practice. “I’ve always been really sensitive to what the observer or the viewer is experiencing when they look at art. I think a lot about what that might be for the other person.”

“I’m inspired by my surroundings in San Jose’s urban streets and gardens to wholeness to what is discarded.” 

The Transformation Station, Amy’s creative expression project as a Creative Ambassador, is a participatory art piece that uses the creative output of visitors to feed hungry composting worms. Participants are invited to contribute a bad thought, deadly secret, or expression of grief in the form of a drawing or words on newsprint paper. The paper is then shredded and fed to the worms. The resulting worm castings are rich fertilizer for nourishing plant life. “This project not only allows people to interact with the piece but by extension to interact with me. I wanted to have that connection with them on a deeper level than just putting something on the wall and observing them from afar while they look at it.” 

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Amy Hibbs 14.4 from Content Magazine on Vimeo.