Second Nature: An Evening with Overstories
Wednesday 23rd September, 7-10pmWhat if caring for nature became Second Nature?
Art has a way of opening our eyes, of making the unfamiliar feel close.
At Overstories, we believe art can do the same for nature, drawing us nearer to the wild places, species, and stories worth protecting.
This night is an invitation to feel it for yourself.
Wander through the work of artists, dancers, and storytellers who carry this connection in their craft, and share the room with fellow believers in a wilder, more connected world.
The Artists
Zaria Forman
Zaria Forman documents climate change with pastel drawings. She travels to remote regions of the world to collect images and inspiration for her work, which is exhibited worldwide. She has flown with NASA on several Operation IceBridge missions over Antarctica, Greenland, and Arctic Canada. She was featured on CBS Sunday Morning, CNN, PBS, and BBC. She delivered a TEDTalk, and spoke at Amazon, Google, and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, exhibited in Banksy’s Dismaland, and was the artist-in-residence aboard the National Geographic Explorer in Antarctica. Her works have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, and the Smithsonian Magazine. Forman currently works and resides in Brooklyn, NY, and is represented by Winston Wächter Fine Art in New York, NY and Seattle, WA.
Artist
Nick Brandt
Nick Brandt is a British photographer whose work confronts the impact of environmental destruction and climate change on people and wildlife alike. His acclaimed East African trilogy (2001–2012) portrayed the region's vanishing animals with the reverence of portraiture, while later series — Inherit the Dust, This Empty World and the ongoing global project The Day May Break — place humans and animals together as fellow victims of a changing planet. His 2023 chapter SINK / RISE was shot underwater with Fijian communities to confront rising seas. Widely exhibited from New York to Shanghai, Brandt's work blends aesthetic power with moral urgency, making him one of the defining environmental photographers of our time.
Photographer
Artistic Director, Performer, Choreographer & Author
Bradley Shelver
Bradley Shelver is a South African-born artistic director, choreographer, educator, author, and performer. He currently serves as Artistic Director of the Joffrey Concert Group, Artistic Director of Contemporary Ballet Studies, and Director of Professional Career Development at the Joffrey Ballet School, while also serving on the Artistic Advisory Board of the Metropolitan Opera. Now in his 17th season as a principal dancer with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Shelver’s extensive performance career includes Ailey II, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Ballet Hispánico, Limón Dance Company, Phoenix Dance Theatre, and projects with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane, Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris Dance Group, and others. His choreography has been commissioned and presented by organizations including Ailey II, Richmond Ballet, Ballet Austin, Graham 2, and leading international ballet schools. An internationally recognized educator and adjudicator, Shelver is an Adjunct Professor at Montclair State University, and the author of Performance Through the Dance Technique of Lester Horton.
Project CETI
Lead Engineer
Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) is a non-profit using artificial intelligence and gentle robotics to decode the communication of sperm whales. Founded in 2020 and based in Dominica, it unites marine biologists, AI researchers, linguists and roboticists across more than fifteen institutions. Its work — including a proposed "sperm whale phonetic alphabet" — is reshaping how we understand animal communication, and with it our relationship to the natural world.
Soundscape Artist
Kara Roselle Smith
A storyteller first, Roselle’s artistry is deeply informed by her Afro-Indigenous heritage. Every endeavor and artistic effort deliberately chosen with the intention of realizing liberation for all peoples. “Heart opening” is a phrase used to describe her sonic soundscapes; woven together by her advocacy, decades of musical study, and intentional selection. Her journeys through unrestricted genres sure to inspire the revolutionary within.
Day Brièrre
Artist
Haitian-born artist Day Brièrre creates color-drenched paintings, illustrations and ceramics inspired by folklore, ritual and Black feminine power. Playful, mystical and deeply ancestral, her work gives old stories a vivid new life.
Research-led and results-driven, Overstories courageously builds campaigns and movements that create change at every level: in hearts, in minds, and in the systems that determine whether the natural world survives. We build alongside allies, partners, and brands who share this same conviction.
Our Work
What’s next in our story?
Friends of Aldabra
Chief Executive Officer
We count on this visionary to define strategic priorities, allocate resources responsibly, and ensure every decision reinforces long-term value creation.
Friends of Aldabra
We built a campaign opposing a Qatari-backed Rosewood resort on Assumption Island, home to over 400 endemic species and the world's largest population of giant Aldabra tortoises, inside a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Chief Executive Officer
Sotheby’s x Panthera
We trust this leader to synchronize production, logistics, and support functions, cultivating dependable processes that uphold our service commitments.
Head of Operations
Friends of Aldabra
Chief Executive Officer
We count on this visionary to define strategic priorities, allocate resources responsibly, and ensure every decision reinforces long-term value creation.
Lead Engineer
Eleanor Parks
We depend on this engineer to transform conceptual requirements into robust technical solutions that integrate seamlessly with existing infrastructures.
Friends of Aldabra
Chief Executive Officer
We count on this visionary to define strategic priorities, allocate resources responsibly, and ensure every decision reinforces long-term value creation.
Please donate to help protect Aldabra Atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
