Parkin Prize
“Before us stands a Garden of Eden and behind us a towering inferno”.
Climate change is a very important topic of today and looking ahead into future, I wish not to paint a picture that is grim but to draw attention to global warming by addressing the causes and encouraging innovation, solutions and sustainability in our choices.
In this series of Nature vs. Industry, I have created fantastical landscape compositions with depth, translucency and environmental meaning. I assemble my imagery by layering portions of photographs that I have taken with indian ink, carbon, pigments, building up the layers between many fine sheets of beeswax(encaustic medium).
The process for me is very much an organic one; supporting sustainability in my art practice by the materials I use. I start with a found substrate, usually an old tray or wooden platter but in this case I chose a large baby change table-top, symbolic to changing our ways to sustain the future for our children. Please note; This concave surface as my substrate posed many challenging obstacles when working with beeswax in its liquid form.
In my submission for the 2020 Parkins Prize, I make reference to deforestation, emissions, methane gas from dairy farming and high nitrogen run off into our water ways, fossil fuels, and greenhouse gases though use of my imagery, placement, and pigments.
Look closely into my art, imagine a life ahead on the path we are currently on and paint a mental picture of change. Together we can switch from fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy utilizing wind, solar, geothermal energy and biofuels. We can plant more trees, and reduce deforestation. Sustainable farming is essential in both our dairy, beef and forest sectors.