GreenPoint EARTH 2020 Screens Award Winner Highlight: BellaPhame
Our virtual Screens2Streets global arts activation and juried competition gave artists the opportunity to harness the incredible power of art to illuminate climate change solutions, raise awareness about climate-related issues, and inspire the world to build back environmentally smarter and healthier communities. More than 100 artist submissions were received from a diverse mix of artists representing nearly 30 countries across the globe, from which our judging committee selected 10 Screens Awards to receive a financial prize and visibility of their work.
The GreenPoint EARTH 2020: Screens2Streets ‘Screens Awards’ were presented in collaboration with The Climate Group and UN SDG Action Campaign during Climate Week NYC and the SDG Action Zone in connection to the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations and the 5th Anniversary of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
As this year’s Climate Week NYC comes to a close, we’re catching up with artist duo BellaPhame, one of our ten ‘Screens Awards’ winners from last year’s GreenPoint EARTH: Screens2Streets.
Art Plus Purpose
“We’re most inspired to use our creativity when it carries an important message. This is our way to connect while sparking a conversation.” - BellaPhame
Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background in art?
BELLAPHAME: Isabella Amaral (Bella) is an artist originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has been drawing since childhood, developing an increased interest in graphic novels, illustration and design. In 2012, after years of looking at street art, she began painting murals and working in social projects.
Justin Phame is a self-taught artist born and raised in the neighborhood of Flatbush, Brooklyn, N.Y. As a youth, he spent years painting graffiti, eventually transitioning to murals and studio work. He has lived in different cities across America as well as Brazil and Portugal. The experience of traveling and living abroad has influenced his style and personal growth.
In 2014 we met in Rio de Janeiro and became painting partners. As our relationship evolved, so did our collaborations. After moving to Oporto, Portugal we started our project BellaPhame in 2017, creating artwork, traveling and painting murals together.
We love your green and purple color palette. What is the inspiration behind this?
BELLAPHAME: Thank you! In our work we like to explore the harmonic combination of separate elements. Green and purple are secondary colors, only possible through the mixing of primary colors. Since we come from diverse backgrounds, this color palette is a visual representation of our separate forces coming together and collaborating in balance. We hope to inspire people to do the same and seek our similarities instead of what separates us.
As one of our 10 ‘Screens’ Award winners of the 2020 edition of GreenPointEARTH Screens2Streets, what made you want to take part in this competition?
BELLAPHAME: We’re most inspired to use our creativity when it carries an important message. This is our way to connect while sparking a conversation. Having the opportunity to participate on a project like this, working to raise awareness about the issues we’re all going through as a society is what motivates us to keep creating.
Your winning submission featured a collage inspired by the Amazon rainforest. Can you explain the meaning behind the artwork?
BELLAPHAME: The Amazon Rainforest plays a key role in the fight against climate change. It is sad to see the uncontrolled criminal exploitation by the agribusiness lobby happening and that’s what we tried to portray in the collage. The green part represents the rich biodiversity of the forest, with all the life it houses and the purple showcases the destruction caused by intentional fires set to deforest the land for cattle farms. In the word search game on both sides, there are hidden words connecting to the theme. We’ve created this piece while staying in Brazil, during one of the worst fires in the Amazon’s history.
What are your creative plans for the future?
BELLAPHAME: Keep connecting with people through our work, collaborating with artists and institutions that aim to create a positive change in the world.