Climate Cartoons With Jess Harwood
Jess Harwood is a cartoonist based in Australia on Eora land. Her work is comical and charming; Jess’s cartoons often feature Australian animals, bright colours and funky fonts.
The messages of her work, however, are not always light-hearted; Jess educates us on political and climate issues through her comics.
Among other issues, Jess’s cartoons protest fossil fuel subsidies for billionaires and jail time for climate activists, and educate her followers on Australia’s bushfires and floods. Frequently featured in The Guardian, Jess’s work is a useful entry point for learning about topical environmental and political issues in Australia. Being of an Indian heritage, Jess’s Instagram feed also includes art that celebrates her culture.
Jess’s interest in art began at a very young age, when she would draw on paper that her father rescued from the tip (“I am definitely from a family of recyclers!”)
Being an only child, Jess preoccupied herself with art. “I spent my whole childhood dreaming and occupying myself by drawing.” She assures me that this was not a lonely childhood; “it was actually the most delightful way to grow up, learn about the world and express myself”.
“I have been doing this my whole life”, Jess tells me. Her works have adopted a political angle for quite some time, too; Jess’s HSC art was a portfolio of work in response to political and environmental events of 2005. “There was a lot of John Howard, a lot of refugee rights topics and of course, climate change. “
The catastrophic “Black Summer” bushfires of summer 2019-2020 propelled Jess to turn her art hobby into a regular practice. One of her works from this time went viral; “I did a drawing using the “this is fine” meme to mock then Prime Minister Scott Morrison, holding up a lump of coal in a room of flames and saying “this is fine” - I put it on my Instagram account and a few days later, a friend saw it on BBC World!” After this, Jess continued to channel her climate anxiety, and her fury at the government, into creating cartoons and comics.
Response to Jess’s work has been overwhelmingly positive – she tells me how many people have found solace in her climate crisis drawings. “During climate crises such as bushfires and floods, many people have responded to my work to tell me about their feelings of solastalgia and despair - it’s helped me connect with many like-minded people.”
Of course, as with any woman who has Opinions On The Internet, there has been some trolling. Jess doesn’t mind; she even views this as a success of sorts. “I don’t mind the trolls - it’s proof that your work is getting noticed.”
I ask Jess about a book that’s had an impact on her; her answer is a book given to her by her mother. “Mum gave me a book in high school called “How To Make Trouble and Influence People”. It was all about creative protests and campaigns and stunts and artworks in Australian history. It really made me want to do activist art and performance”.
In the future, Jess aspires to one day release a book on climate justice, with stories told through comics and art. “Watch this space!”
Keep up-to-date with Jess via her Instagram.
All images via Jess Harwood / Jess Harwood art.
