Betsy Damon

Betsy Damon is an American artist specialising in a myriad of art forms ranging from performance art to documentaries that all link to the interconnectedness of humanity and nature. She displays her opinions through an ecofeminist lens such as in performances like ‘The 7000 Year Old Woman’ in 1977, New York, when she painted her naked body white, attached bags of colored flour and sat within a sand circle to engage the public. Damon walked around the circle slowly whilst breaking the flour bags, aiming to symbolise the rejection of oppression and the exploration of women’s public identity within a patriarchal society. It was meant to be a ritualistic exploration of womanhood placed in the broader context of the feminist movement of the 1970s. Recently, Damon has been shifting her focus from a feminist perspective a more environmentally conscious one as she is now working on the ‘Fire and Rivers Turned Red’ project that is fundraising for the LA wildfires. Through her extensive portfolio, Damon has been evidently displaying her active stance on eco-feminism.