What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Tear Flame”?

Artist Statement

This "Tear Flame" print is fairly self-explanatory, but I'll share my thoughts. Our planet Earth is often called "Mother Earth" for reasons that seem obvious to me. Mothers are often the primary caregivers for children, and their beautiful love and nurturing are essential for a good life. This is not an endorsement of patriarchy but an acknowledgment of the disproportionate expectations for mothers. Props to all the dads who put in a ton of co-parenting work, but this print is more about the "Mother Earth" metaphor. When I was a kid, I was rebellious and defiant (and still am), and it didn't really phase me when my parents yelled at me. However, when something I did brought my mom to tears, I felt real guilt. I knew my mom cared deeply and was wounded if she cried. We are wounding our collective Mother Earth, and the tears are obvious. This is a collective problem, even though some people and regions are more vulnerable than others in the short term. Eventually, it will compromise life for us all. To paraphrase Dr. Dre, "When you dis your mother, you dis yourself"! A portion of proceeds from this print will benefit Greenpeace to support their work to combat environmental destruction. Thanks for caring! –Shepard Tear Flame. 18 x 24 inches. Screen print on thick cream Speckletone paper. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 550. Comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart. $60.

Summary

Tear Flame is a 2024 Shepard Fairey screen print built around the "Mother Earth" metaphor, depicting the planet weeping as a stand-in for the environmental harm humanity inflicts on it. Printed on thick cream Speckletone paper at 18 x 24 inches, it is a signed, numbered first edition of 550, issued by Obey Giant at $60. The imagery treats Earth as a wounded maternal figure, using the visual of tears to frame climate destruction as a collective injury we all bear responsibility for. A portion of proceeds benefits Greenpeace, tying the print to active environmental advocacy.

Why It Matters

Tear Flame sits squarely in Fairey's environmental output, where he repeatedly reframes climate change as a moral and emotional appeal rather than a purely scientific argument. By personifying Earth as a grieving mother, the print converts an abstract crisis into something intimate and guilt-laden, a rhetorical move that distinguishes Fairey's activism from drier message art. The accompanying artist statement explicitly rejects patriarchy while acknowledging the disproportionate caregiving expectations placed on mothers, lending the piece a more nuanced subtext than its self-described "self-explanatory" image suggests. For collectors, the Greenpeace proceeds tie give the work a charitable dimension consistent with Fairey's practice of pairing releases with aligned organizations. The 550-piece signed and numbered edition with a Verisart digital certificate places it in the accessible mid-tier of his screen-print output, a format that has made his environmental statements broadly collectible. As one of a sustained run of climate-themed releases, Tear Flame documents how Fairey has kept environmental urgency central to his visual language across the 2020s, making it a representative entry for anyone tracking that thread in his catalog.

Collector Perspective

This print appeals to collectors who follow Fairey's environmental and activist work and who appreciate releases tied to a cause, here Greenpeace. At 18 x 24 inches it is an approachable size for framing in a home or office, and the emotive "weeping Earth" image reads clearly from a distance, giving it strong wall presence. The signed and numbered edition of 550 plus a Verisart digital certificate of authenticity makes it attractive to buyers who want provenance assurance without a premium price. At its $60 release point it suits newer collectors building a thematic Fairey grouping, as well as established collectors filling out the climate strand of their holdings. It pairs naturally with other Earth-focused prints in his catalog for a cohesive environmental display.

Historical Context

Tear Flame belongs to Fairey's ongoing environmental series of the 2020s, a period in which climate and ecological themes became a dominant recurring subject across his Obey Giant releases. Dated January 2024, it follows a cluster of Earth- and nature-focused prints and continues his long-standing method of pairing artwork with a partner organization, in this case Greenpeace. The "Mother Earth" framing connects to Fairey's broader tendency to translate political and social concerns into emotionally resonant symbolic imagery rather than literal documentation. Issued through Obey Giant on cream Speckletone paper in a signed, numbered edition with Verisart certification, it reflects the standardized production and authentication practices that characterize his contemporary studio output, situating it firmly within his Environmental Era work.

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Related Works

One Earth (Color)2024 · Same year and environmental theme, both centered on the planet as subject.

Earth's Future Is Our Future2025 · Continues the Earth-as-subject climate messaging into 2025.

Treading Water2024 · 2024 environmental print addressing rising-water/climate vulnerability.

Sunset As The Fall Approaches2023 · Adjacent environmental release sharing the climate-concern thread.

Carga Frágil Mural2023 · Environmental piece echoing the planet's fragility theme.

While Supplies Last2022 · Earlier environmental print on resource depletion, same thematic strand.