No Time to Waste.
Eco-Art Competition 2021.

Artist Statement The name of my piece is “She is Burning”. It is directly related to rising ocean temperatures across the globe. Rising temperatures have caused glaciers to melt, sea levels to rise, and certain areas of the ocean to become inhospitable for wildlife. The largest element in my painting is fire. The fire represents how fast the ocean is warming up. Fire consumes everything in its path and if it isn't controlled quickly it will leave only ashes in its wake. The fire itself was lit by the pipelines running through the ocean. Even though oil drilling in the pacific isn't the only major pollutant to our oceans, I used it to represent the destructive repercussions human activity has on our oceans. The worse a fire gets the harder it is to control. We are running out of time to stop the damage we are causing to our oceans. This issue is important to me because without our oceans we wouldn't have life. Oceans absorb about 2.5 billion tons of Carbon Dioxide from the 9.3 billion tons that we release into the air annually. That's roughly 1/4th of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. As the water heats up from greenhouse gases and human activities it becomes harder and harder for the ocean to be able to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Not to mention it becomes even harder to release oxygen back into the air. Animals like phytoplankton that store carbon in their bodies are starting to diminish in numbers thanks to rising temperatures, even further slowing the transport of carbon dioxide into the oceans. Without the filter of CO2 from the atmosphere to our oceans, the rate of global warming would be so exponential that we would already be way past the point of no return. The elements I used In my painting are mostly symbolic. The pipeline represents human interference and pollution in our oceans, the women's face represents the ocean itself and the fire represents fast-rising ocean temperatures. By using a woman's face it represents how the ocean nurtures both us and her inhabitants. By giving her human emotions, people will be able to relate to the pain and sadness the ocean is experiencing. I use some real symbols of ocean life by including coral. Coral is very delicate and can break and die just by being bumped by a swimmer let alone rising sea temperatures. It provides homes for millions of different kinds of marine life and without it, they wouldn't be able to survive. The single fish hook represents both overfishing and loss of livelihood. Overfishing has caused hundreds of fish to become endangered or extinct. However, those that respect the ocean and give back but base their livelihoods on fishing will no longer be able to do so. Thanks to rising sea temperatures many fishes are migrating away from their homes or simply dying off. I hope that those that see my work will hear the plea of the ocean and will find ways to reduce their carbon footprint and reduce pollution. I hope that they spread awareness and find ways to help their community reduce pollutants. I hope that they find a way to be eco-friendly and I hope that they take this issue very seriously. Without our oceans, we won't be able to survive.