'In Recovery - Blue Mountains VII' belongs to a series of works motivated
by the increasing global crisis we are facing due to climate change.
The devastating 2019-2020 Australian bushfire season resulted in more
than 10 million hectares burnt, (1) including 80% of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and more than 50% of the Gondwana World Heritage
Rainforests destroyed (2). Lives and homes were lost with approximately 3
billion animals affected (3). It may take centuries for these areas to fully recover, with the risk of rare species and ecosystems lost forever. (4)
In March 2020 I travelled to the Blue Mountain World Heritage Area and
although there were signs of recovery, the area was fragile, taking tentative
steps toward recovery, only to be impacted almost immediately by Covid
-19. This work (comprising of four multi - layered prints) is a presentation the fragility and resilience of the natural world and is ideally
placed near a window, doorway or opening, where any passing breeze can interact
with the piece. A representation of a moment in time that is a suggestion of a
space existing between what is seen and unseen, reflecting the uncertainty of
our global future.
'What is needed is a systemic shift in reorganizing social, political
and economic life, in order to bring us into harmony with the world around us,
including its human and nonhuman forms.' (5)
(1) WWF Website - https://support.wwf.org.uk/australia-bushfires. Accessed 15.07.2020
(2) The Guardian Website - www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/17/its-heart-wrenching-80-of-blue-mountains-and-50-of-gondwana-rainforests-burn-in-bushfires. Accessed 07.07.2020
(3) WWF Website - https://support.wwf.org.uk/australia-bushfires. Accessed 15.07.2020
(4) ABC News website - https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2020-01-15/blue-mountains-bushfire-recovery/11869056. Accessed 15.07.2020
(5) Contemporary Art and the Politics of Ecology, T.J. Demos, pg12, Sternberg Press 2016
FOR THE PURPOSES OF SUBMISSION :
I have combined two images into one. The left hand side of the
image
presents how the work would be hung with the added
bonus of a passing
breeze. The right hand side of the image
shows a
closer detail of the four multi-layered prints that comprise the work.
