SUMMER 2022 9
D E PA R T M E N T
THE ART OF OPTIMISM
Victoria Orolfo enjoys
her job as a background
painter—currently on
We Baby Bears—but
her artistic heart has
also led her down a
more unusual path to
the Solar Punk movement. Anchored at
the intersection of environmental, social,
and economic sustainability, this science
fiction sub-genre "feels like a refreshing
perspective on humanity and the Earth's
future," she says. "With current world
events unfolding every day, it's good
to have a genre of media that tackles
multiple issues while remaining both
optimistic and realistic."
Painted in Photoshop, Aloe Bot reflects
Orolfo's love of the way vegetation
contrasts against minimalistic hard-
surface design. It is the first of her
many terrarium-bot pieces using
robots as incubators for vegetation
while collecting the oxygen they
release. "If at some point the air quality
becomes unbreathable and the soil
becomes infertile, we will need to find
other means of supplying oxygen and
growing food," she explains.
While Orolfo wanted Aloe Bot to be
funny-cute, it is also a serious personal
commentary. Growing up as the child of
immigrants of limited means—shopping
in second-hand stores, fixing things rather
than replacing them—she finds that her
own life experiences inform her Solar Punk
pieces. Along with exploring solutions, she
loves that she can use her art to educate
others about environmental issues and
various forms of sustainability, and their
impact on different economic classes.
More of Orolfo's work can be found at
her website, victoriaorolfo.wixsite.com/
portfolio.
ARTIST: Victoria Orolfo
TITLE: Aloe Bot
MEDIUM: Digital
SIZE: 6" x 6"
A R T & C R A F T