Diane Burko’s ‘Extraction’ Brings Climate Change to Life

In a whirlwind of environmental advocacy, globally celebrated artist Diane Burko spoke about her instrumental exhibition, Extraction: A Dialogue of Extremes, at Rowan University’s Museum of Contemporary Art last Wednesday. 

Burko, a Professor Emerita at the Community College of Philadelphia and occasional guest speaker at Princeton University, has focused on the world’s deteriorating environmental conditions since 2006, when something struck her: the landscapes she had long cherished no longer exuded the beauty and integrity they once did. “Extraction” is a tale of dichotomies within that theme: the melting ice caps in the Arctic and the way corporations and governments burn through the Amazon’s resources, including unconscionable deforestation.

“The material presence of this exhibit not only allows us to see those conditions but to feel them, and there’s a physicality…to the wooden components…I feel that it helps transport us to a place where we could imagine ourselves in different settings, inside the work itself,” said Sam Horowitz, assistant professor of sculpture at Rowan.

To craft these incredibly personal pieces, Burko worked with the Arctic Radium Isotope Observing Network (ARION). This organization monitors climate change by tracking radium isotopes moving from shallow Arctic coastlines and the continental shelf into the open ocean. The National Science Foundation financed the work, and in collaboration with Associate Professor Dr. Lauren Kipp, amongst others, Burko artfully illustrates the devastation of climate change to the masses.

According to Reuters, people may find reading about climate-change-related news off-putting for three main reasons: it is exhausting, puts people in a bad mood, and creates a general feeling of helplessness. Burko’s work bridges that gap.

“I think it has to start with the painting and the empathy, and then I really try to seduce the viewer…to not [think] about the science. They’re looking at art, but within the art there are all these factual things that are sort of stuck in there, and if the painting is seductive enough, you’re going to look at it,” said Burko.

Burko’s influential work has reached massive audiences worldwide, with exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, London’s Royal Academy of Art, and Madrid’s Circulo de Bellas Artes, to name a few. 

For this artist, the difference between news that tells readers about climate change and her art conveying the same message comes down to a uniquely human quality.

“[It’s a] simple answer: emotion…it’s about feelings, and it’s hard to get emotionally worked up when you’re looking at data,” said Burko. 

There was shared appreciation for her intentional integration of art and data. 

“I just love when people…convey information about science and climate change through art. This gives you a [rare] perspective…it’s not just charts, it’s[taking] the charts and having some artistic representation,” said Ted Howell, professor of writing arts and environmental and sustainability studies at Rowan University.

Mary Salvante, director and chief coordinator at the Rowan University Museum of Contemporary Arts, brought this creative convergence to the Rowan Community.

“I visited Diane’s studio to see the paintings she was working on for the collaboration with Dr. Kipp,” said Salvante.

While she was with the artist, the collaboration began with a resounding gripe.

“I was complaining about all these horrible, greedy people that are invading all this indigenous land and extracting their wealth [while] also polluting their waters with mercury… and it was like she had a lightbulb moment,” said Burko. 

Salvante saw a sphere appearing in just about all of Burko’s works, painting an unmistakable connection.

“[I was there for] the paintings she was working for the collaboration with Dr. Kipp…[and] I saw on another wall the Amazon paintings…[and] bringing the two bodies of work together…completed the narrative around climate change: one being the extraction of information that might provide indicators of climate change and the other the extraction of natural minerals that contributed to climate change through the burning of the Amazonian trees,” said Salvante. 

It occurred to Salvante that there was more at play than just art.

“In all her work, Diane is responding to a multitude of environmental and ecological concerns. Her work doesn’t attempt to find a solution, but rather to engage with viewers to the extent that perhaps they will respond and become active in the pursuit of protecting the environment,” said Salvante.

The question remains: what can people do to change the trajectory of the environmental ravaging we’ve been idly facing? For Burko, the answer is simple.

“[They] just have to speak up; they have to realize that it’s the policymakers that make the decisions…it’s about voting. It’s about making people in government responsible for this environment,” said Burko.

An advocate to her heart, Burko’s talents have earned her over 20 awards, grants, and fellowships, from the 1979 Rutgers University National Drawing Show Purchase Prize to her most recent 2025 Artist Residency at Awasi Relais and Châteaux, Iguazu, Argentina. One thing is undeniable: she is genuinely modest about her achievements.   

“I guess I’m accomplished because I’ve been working at it for more than 50 years, but in my mind, I still have a great deal more to accomplish,” said Burko.

For that night, anyway, her work was a raging success.

“This is really serious information…how do you translate…[data] into artwork and then translate that conversation into a dialogue [that’s] not just [about] scientists but about average people. She has an incredible way of [using] artistic language to make compositions that tell that narrative,” said Thomas Raggio, lead professor of art appreciation at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.

Raggio and Burko have had their own connection for about 20 years: he was her former assistant.

“I think as humans…we like to observe things…you can take your time like everyone is doing right now in the gallery…sit down and have a conversation and then reflect on it. When you read words…sometimes you can get lost. And I think here you have a visual of what’s actually happening…you have these conversations in the gallery, people go back, they tell their friends and family, and then the next thing you know,” said Raggio.

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