About the artwork

At first glance this collage shows a landscape, dramatic with its threatening sky and red hills. But if the viewer looks closer, they will see the metaphors contained within the torn paper shapes and that at its heart is the turmoil of climate change. The sky is whirling with pollution; the hills on the left are not red clay but joints of roast beef signifying the destruction of eco-systems and habitats caused by cattle farming. Live stock are responsible for a large proportion of global greenhouse emissions particularly methane. Elsewhere across the collage are images of fruit and vegetables embedded in the earth. Chemical pesticides and fertilisers used to produce fruit and vegetables pollute and contaminate soil, water and the air we breathe. The climate challenges we face in the next decade should not be underestimated. The world’s population will continue to be confronted with environmental changes, increased ground level ozone, water shortages, soil degradation and deforestation. Environmental changes will bring the spread of pests and viruses affecting global health, food security and our well being. The Earth in Turmoil has been created using collage, a form of recycling. The magazine pages I tear and cut are from the 1960’s and 1970’s, no new resources were used to create the messages in my artwork. I have dismantled these images and repositioned them to change their meaning and show what our consumerist society has done with little regard for the consequences to future generations. It is the artists’ role to continually question and influence how people perceive our world. We are all responsible for accelerating the extinction of many plants and animal life. We are failing to see things as they really are and it is imperative we all understand the universe and our role in it before it is too late.