The
wave
My work
in recent years has addressed the climate crisis, whose effects include global
warming, melting glaciers and a natural world that is changing in the wake of
human activity. I chose to use panels made of Styrofoam, a material that is not
biodegradable and is completely tied to industry and international trade – among
the primary sources of global pollution. Styrofoam (polystyrene foam) is a
polymer commercially produced from oil; it is used, among other things, for
packaging and thermal insulation. I understood and saw that Styrofoam is the
most suitable material – starting with the contrast between its light mass and
the power and weight of water.
Throughout
human history, tsunami waves, viruses, diseases, and evil have swept across our
world. I chose The Great Wave,
the iconic work that Katsushika Hokusai created in 1829. Hokusai’s The Great
Wave threatens to capsize three small boats, while the wave now attacking
the world’s population threatens to drown us all. Hokusai created a series of
woodblock prints during a period of the economic crisis in order to preserve and
disseminate his drawings. I create a 'wave of fear and anxiety' in Styrofoam, which
will never decompose, as a warning signal. The size of the wave will be
tailored to space. It’s a relief of very large dimensions, fitted to the
space and the size of the available wall. The idea is to create a wave whose
size will amaze the viewers who enter the space. And besides the composition’s
beauty and aesthetics, it serves as a sort of majestic warning – if we don’t
learn to survive in our world, and are not careful in protecting our planet,
nature will rise up against us.
