Female Forms Of Eco Joy

Be inspired by one woman’s fresh approach to ecosystemic thriving. Artist Burcu Koleli insists on joy in a world of overwhelming climate grief. This passionate, intersectional, ecofeminist activist celebrates women in all their fearless forms and nature in her biodiversity. Listen as Burcu talks of “infinite ways of being included in the climate movement” and tackling pressing issues. Explore how meditative brushstrokes, like bodyflow and breathwork, can be essential mindfulness practices to activate healing.

Burcu’s commitment to inclusive social-environmental justice is reflected fiercely in her artwork for sustainable brands, the WWF, Intersectional Environmentalist, UN Women, Rainforest Alliance, Planned Parenthood, Girls Rising, Climate Resilience Project, We Need To Talk (about period poverty and menstrual stigma), and more.

Transcript

Welcome to the premiere episode of Female Frequency Podcast.

I am Jodi Nelson,

Curator,

Artist,

Mentor,

Divine channel,

And host of Female Frequency.

I am here to bring you unbound forms of ecofeminism,

Reclaiming art,

Spirituality,

And feminine power to revive the earth.

The world is unbalanced.

The feminine is in a deficit.

It's not only affecting women,

But it is also affecting the planet herself.

Those who have worked with me before know that I believe in the power of art.

I am a bridge for the creative spirit to the artist,

Trailblazers,

Outside-the-box thought leaders.

You know who I'm talking about.

I'm talking about those real magic makers.

It was a few years ago the words Female Frequency came to me and I have embraced it ever since.

That vibe definitely runs so much deeper than that because my journey has brought me closer to the truth of myself,

My soul,

The natural world,

And the unconditional love of the female frequency.

So it is now that I know that this is the time to create this podcast.

I am also launching this with the Aloha spirit.

My partner Matt and I have a Malama project on the Hawaiian island of Molokai.

I have gone on extensive pilgrimages.

I have been called to go visit sacred sites honoring the divine feminine all over the world.

So I am thrilled to be called to Hawaii.

Now each episode serves as a catalyst offering wisdom along with practical steps to empower you to make a positive impact on the planet.

So whether you're an artist,

An empath,

Eco-warrior,

There's a story here to invite awe and help you embody what I call the Female Frequency.

Today my very first guest is a dear friend of mine who is also an artist and activist,

Bushu Kaleli.

Bushu's commitment to inclusive social environmental justice reflects fiercely in her illustrations for sustainable brands like Climate Resilience Project,

Earth Creative,

We Need to Talk,

WWF,

And so many more.

Bushu insists on joy in a world that is unbalanced.

This is why I love her.

She insists on joy.

She is a passionate climate activist and intersectional eco-feminist who celebrates women in all of their fearless forms while tackling pressing issues.

Listen as Bushu talks with us of infinite ways of being included in the climate movement.

Learn how community science tools like plant and bird identification apps can help build and restore connections that spur action.

She shares her specific creative process with us,

How she uses essential mindfulness practices like body flow and breath work to deliver intentional brushstrokes in her creations.

So without further ado,

Let's meet Bushu Kaleli.

Hello,

Sister.

I am so excited that we can finally meet together and spend time.

I have to tell you,

You know,

The rest of the audience,

We've been trying to get together since March or April of 23.

And the weather is always screaming at us because the first time we tried to get together,

It was the earthquakes in Turkey.

And you're spending time with your family and like trying to get it figured out.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And it's been always something.

And then this time I'm on the island of Molokai in Hawaii and we have tornado watches.

So I thought that it was only fitting for us to talk outside because you're such an intersexual eco-feminist artist that I wanted the birds to be chirping while we were talking,

The leaves clapping for us throughout.

So we'll probably hear some of the wind throughout this too,

But you're such an inspiration to me and I don't know if I've ever told you.

Oh,

Jodi.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

When I was curating that show,

Beyond an Inconvenient Truth,

And you were an exhibiting artist,

I saw your work and was immediately drawn to it with every cell that I have.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

It was a dream come true to be part of that show.

It was amazing.

You have had a lot of dream projects.

I mean,

That was one,

But your book that you've,

You've illustrated a whole book.

Tell us,

I want to hear about this climate resistance project because you illustrated the book,

Right?

It's not the book,

But so it's this online platform.

It's the website itself.

And it's also a book.

Yeah,

The platform first launched and then she launched a book and the platform is basically designated for like infinite ways of being included in the climate movement.

What you can do to take action and what I love about that platform is that it centers the community.

So yeah,

It was,

It was such an exciting project to work with.

The owner,

Kylie contacted me in the early January,

2023,

And it was such a good start for my year because literally everything she talked about,

I was like,

Yes,

Yes,

Yes.

And yes,

We totally needed,

And I would absolutely love to be included in the project.

I illustrated for the urban cooling,

Urban farming,

Community owned,

Renewable energy and community science.

And it was,

For me,

It was a great project because I get to learn a lot too while I'm working on it.

That's why I love what I do by working those kind of like climate justice and feminist justice projects.

I get to do my own research and I get to learn a lot too.

So it's definitely really nice.

Absolutely.

And I think that's one of the reasons why I start curating different shows and different avenues within shows.

So I can also learn more about the artists and their creative process.

But in this project,

Were there issues that you were illustrating that were really pulling on your heartstrings more?

In this specific one?

Yeah.

Oh,

I think the community science,

Because so when I,

When I was looking through her solutions and reading what she wrote,

I was like,

Okay,

Urban farming,

Like immediately I can picture the urban gardens,

The rooftop gardens,

The community gardens that I already see a lot.

So it was easier for me to picture.

Same with the urban cooling too,

Like all the fountains or shade structures,

The renewable energy,

Again,

Very tangible in my mind.

But when I said community science,

I was like,

Hmm,

What comes to my mind when I say community science?

And that's when I realized maybe this is the area that I don't really know much about.

And then when I went further into and read more about it,

I realized all the apps in my phone that lent identification,

Bird identification,

These are all inside the community science.

It's because when we say like science,

It's kind of intimidating and sometimes like it's not really communicating with us well,

But once we make it available for the mass,

For the public,

We get to know what we're surrounded with and then we get to love what we're surrounded with and we get to,

I don't know,

Want to protect it.

So I thought like that was really fun to learn more about and then illustrate it.

That's why when people go and look at the community science one,

They can see like there's a girl who's trying to identify a plant,

There's someone who's birdwatching,

Someone looking at the telescope,

Looking at the sky,

Because all of these things are,

Even though I didn't realize it's inside the community science.

Yeah,

Yeah.

I just saw something on Instagram that hit me in a way that it hadn't hit me before and it's probably something related in a way,

But they stayed focused.

It was showing children that could identify a hundred different brand names easy,

But they couldn't identify even 10 different plants.

Which is so sad,

Like literally so sad.

When I moved here from Turkey,

I mean,

Unfortunately,

Back where I'm from,

We're not surrounded by those national forests and a lot of parks,

But literally right next to my apartment,

There's this right park and when you go and walk,

There's little signs on top of the trees,

Which tells you at what date they were brought here,

What is the species.

And it's just,

To me,

It was massive because I'm like,

Wait a second,

I can just look at it,

Know what it is,

And then try to identify it somewhere else when I see the same tree.

And that's a fun thing to realize.

And when I was reading all those books talking about,

You try to get to know your neighbor,

But the bird is your neighbor,

All of the squirrels are your neighbor,

You kind of want to know who they are.

And once you get to know them,

It gets such an interesting place to live.

Because now I start being able to identify some of the birds.

And honestly,

Jodi,

It's the best feeling when you look at a bird and like,

I know what it is.

It's an American Robin.

I don't know.

It's just so fun.

Yeah.

Because it's no longer just a bird.

It's that bird.

Yeah,

Exactly.

It's that one.

Yes.

Yes.

Yeah.

We have a bird here that'll do that.

That'll come over and visit.

That'll visit.

Yeah.

That's cute.

So I downloaded this one app.

It's like a Shazam app for the birds.

You make the app listen the surrounding,

And it just listens the bird sounds and identifies which birds are there in your area.

And when you click on them,

They show you different types of photos.

You can listen their callings,

Different types of songs,

And what might it mean.

It's just,

I don't know.

Technology is amazing.

It's so much easier.

When it works,

And it's for the greater good,

It is amazing.

That's true.

It is amazing.

So actually,

Let's talk about technology and how you work.

You sometimes draw on a computer.

Yeah.

Tell me,

Like what?

Because I saw you using watercolors one day,

And then you were on the computer.

So tell the audience more about your creative process.

So I started with a Vacom tablet,

Which I was using,

Like connecting it to my computer.

And I was just using the tablet,

And it was displaying it on my screen.

And then I switched to an iPad,

Which now enables me to just hands-on draw on a tablet,

Which to be honest,

Changed my life,

Changed my career.

Everything is easier because I can download so many different types of brushes,

So many different types of textures,

And I can travel everywhere I go with just my iPad and access to all the tools.

So it was convenient.

It's great.

But it still is not,

Like it cannot replace the feeling of this brush stroke with the paint and the unpredictability of the paint too.

And the fact that I cannot command Z or delete the item that I draw on,

I just have to work around it.

It's just,

So it's a more organic process when I do it with my hands and manual.

I wouldn't necessarily say I prefer one to the other.

It kind of depends on how I feel.

Sometimes I start sketching manually and then transfer it to my iPad,

Or sometimes I just do the whole process in my iPad.

Definitely depends on how I feel.

But yeah,

I like both.

I sometimes integrate them.

I do textures on a paper,

Take pictures of them,

Send it to my iPad and like mix and match different techniques that way.

So yeah,

I like playing around with it.

Wow.

Yeah,

I think I understand much more than what I did before.

I just think your creative spirit is so right.

I mean,

The way that your hand just flows in all of your videos,

All of your reels on Instagram.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Do you have like a meditation practice before you draw or like,

Do you just go for it?

It's just because there's such a flow.

And girl,

I've been around some artists in my day,

You know,

I have seen a lot of artists work and there is a certain spark that I see.

Like I see it.

You are fully embodied with the creative spirit when you are working.

Like it's your fingertips.

It's just,

There's a sense of knowing in your hand that I don't see in quite everyone.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So to be honest,

Painting is a meditative practice for me.

And like earlier in 2020,

I did my yoga teacher training and then I did a meditation teacher training.

And then this year I completed the breathwork teacher training.

So I incorporate all of these things in my life daily.

But when it comes to painting,

Most of my ideas are already rooted in mindfulness practices.

So I try to approach that from that perspective too,

Therefore like the movements are mostly and like I tend to move intentionally with every brush stroke and that just calms my mind a lot and like allows me to be present more.

So yeah,

Thank you for saying that.

Totally.

And I just,

I need to pause and just let everybody really hear what you said,

Because it's so important.

That's awesome.

And you are quite a spiritual leader through all your,

All your props.

Like I've even gone to your web,

On your Instagram and been like,

What,

What's she up to today?

What should I maybe work on for a minute?

So you give people mindfulness practices that is using the creative spirit,

Like is drawing or is breathing.

Yeah.

To me,

Like it all started,

I mean,

Painting is a way of expression,

But it was more like,

What do I want to express?

And then it turned,

The question turned into what do I need in my life?

And what I needed in my life was more joy and being more present.

So basically everything I tell is what I need to hear.

So everything I tell is what I'm telling to myself and I know that it resonates with everybody.

So like it started with daily affirmations and then it started with like small things that we can look from a different perspective through what I learned from the mindfulness courses or the breath work and reflecting it through a painting,

It became more relatable because art is the most relatable form of communication.

And then it,

I don't know,

It just communicates what I want to say better,

I think.

It does.

It's such a communication tool.

And we as a species,

As humans have been drawing since even further back than what we have evidence of in my mind.

Yeah.

Sure.

And I just love hearing that you said that you went inward because there in this climate of injustice,

If people were to go inward and be kinder to themselves and figure out what they need,

They'll have so much more empathy for their family,

For their neighbor,

For someone else that they don't really understand.

How about understanding people so we don't do this,

You know,

The barbaricness of a war that is just still absurdity.

100%.

It's like every day,

I mean,

To be honest,

I was always a very sensitive kid.

I always tend to like read all the news.

I always try to be as up to date as possible.

And sometimes it's overwhelming.

And because of the work that I'm doing as an activist and an advocate for social justice and climate justice,

You get to hear about constant bad things happening in the world.

And there was a moment that I realized like,

Oh,

It all starts within and then goes to like your inner circle,

Then the community and goes broader and broader from there,

Like a domino effect almost.

And that's when I'm like,

Okay,

So we need the self healing to heal the community.

And if the communities heal,

Then those people who rule us will change for the better and then make better choices.

And we all live in harmony.

Yes,

Absolutely.

It's such a shift in the patriarchal thinking,

Like we can be a community,

We can help one another go inward and see the light.

Yeah.

And especially when I moved to the United States and actually witnessed how the individualistic culture is so present,

So heavily present here,

It made me understand so many other things like,

Of course,

The consumerism is so high.

Of course,

The pollution rates are high.

People don't care.

Like they're so,

I don't know,

Isolated from one another,

From the nation and from themselves.

So we don't do the actions that is necessary to protect because they don't even know what is there to protect almost.

Absolutely.

Oh,

You're so right.

Nailed it.

Yeah.

If they're not aware of the natural world,

They don't even know.

Yeah.

I had one special time and I just saw your drawing on Instagram with the swans because we're talking about going inward and talking about the natural world.

I had the swan medicine come in and present herself to me a year,

Over a year now,

Almost two,

But it is through swan medicine that I think helped me go the most inward I have gone.

Oh,

So beautiful.

Yeah.

Do you work with spirit animals or do you think about that when you're drawing some of the animals that I've seen?

Not really.

I just think that beauty is so associated with nature.

To be honest,

When I was a kid,

I was so afraid of bugs and certain types of birds.

I didn't really care for them.

You would never,

Never,

Never.

I love it.

But butterflies are so beautiful.

Butterflies are okay.

Of course,

They're beautiful.

But moths are also beautiful.

The beetles are so gorgeous.

And then,

I mean,

Swans are obviously gorgeous.

They don't even make a question.

But the pond right next to my apartment in the Wright Park,

It's filled with swans and different ducks.

Beautiful.

It's just like,

I love looking at it.

Yeah.

I love the way that you draw because I see the beauty in there.

And each one,

Like even the women,

You know,

The way you draw their legs.

I can't wait to see what other projects you're going to be working on.

But yeah,

Tell us a little bit more about your background.

Did you grow up in Turkey or when?

Like,

Kind of give us a short chronology of what you've been up to.

Yeah.

So I grew up in Turkey in the capital,

Ankara,

And I studied communication and design.

So my background was actually heavily focused on more cinematography,

Photography,

And the communications.

And after I graduate,

Pandemic happened.

So I started drawing more and more.

And I started doing more volunteer work than I ever have been because I had so much time in my hands.

And I started working with WWF and some feminist organizations in Turkey.

And the more I learned about it,

The more I wanted to be in the movement.

And when I looked at what I have as a skill,

I just wanted to like,

Okay,

I want to use my skills to fight with these issues and advocate for the social justice and climate justice.

And then I moved to USA in 2019.

And I'm here ever since.

I am working with different NGOs,

Including UN Women,

WWF,

Still working with a lot of different NGOs in Turkey.

And yeah,

I'm like a creative director in this organization called We Need to Talk,

Which aims to tackle period poverty and stigma in Turkey.

So yeah,

I illustrate,

I design,

I do branding,

I do paintings.

I do a little bit of everything,

But all for the same cause almost.

Yes,

Yes.

Just to clarify,

WWF is the World Wildlife Foundation.

Okay,

Yeah.

Yeah,

Those are some heavy hitters you just listed.

And you've had,

Yeah.

And you've been part of some TED Talks with your illustrations.

Yeah,

The climate countdown was like featuring my work.

That was pretty cool.

There is this brand called Seattle Chocolate Factory,

Which is big here.

They wanted me to create a mural for their sustainability journey.

So yeah,

I collaborated with a bunch of different brands that are based in Turkey and United States that centers sustainability and their business practices.

I,

Yeah,

I'm really happy with,

Like,

I feel like when I spoke it,

But when I said and decided,

Like,

I'm going to use this for that cause,

One by one,

All the projects that came to me was through that cause.

And then in 2022,

UN Women wanted me to illustrate the campaign for the National Women's Day.

And I was like,

Is this really happening?

Yes.

Yeah,

It was great.

And then I,

When I hear all those positive feedbacks and all those people who come to me and say,

Like,

Thank you.

Like,

I really resonated with what you're doing.

It just makes me want to do it more and more.

And it just motivates me a lot.

Well,

I'm glad you're motivated because you motivate me.

And I know Earth Creative is going to want to do some projects with you again here in the next couple of years.

And soon you have 12,

000 followers.

You're so sweet.

And yes,

You always answer my DMs.

Thank you so much for sharing your magic and your time and your process with us.

Oh,

Yeah,

You are the future.

And I'm excited to work on a project with you.

I don't know what it's going to be,

But we'll have to make one.

Aw,

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for vibing with the female frequency today.

If this episode or any other episode has helped transform or shift your perspective in any way,

Please tell me all about it.

Tell me all about it in a review where you are listening to this podcast.

It will totally help me out and help spread the vibe.

If you're a creative looking for more support,

This is what I do for a profession.

I often host workshops.

All right,

Y'all.

Until next time.