The ocean is at the front line of climate change and it’s in serious trouble.
When I read about the #createwaves campaign, I had to get involved. I’ve always been a bit scared of the sea to be honest, there’s something about the unknown and well, movies don't always paint the best picture do they?
I recently watched Jaws (I know, I know... late to the party), but this lead me on to watching a lot of documentaries about sharks and now I feel like I am becoming obsessed, they are seriously misunderstood creatures and play a vital role in keeping our oceans healthy. The sad reality though, is that roughly 100 million Sharks are killed every year by humans. They are slaughtered for their fins, and are often thrown back into the ocean without their fins to either drown, or be eaten by other predators. These beautiful creatures are essentially being tortured before they die.
"So what Leah, what does this have to do with Climate Change?" Well I'm glad you asked... to put it in simple terms, alongside other predators, sharks help to manage ocean ecosystems and keep them healthy. They are a vital part of the food chain and without them, the ocean suffers devastating consequences. You know... the ocean that provides us with the majority of our oxygen.
The artwork
I wanted show the relationship between sharks and the oxygen we breathe. I created the shark out of bubbles to represent this but with a deeper meaning of how fragile the balance is (those bubbles could quite easily disappear). I kept the background very dark and lifeless to reinforce the message.
I thought the idea might be better brought to life if animated, but I'm afraid I lack that level of skill, if anyone wants to animate a shark turning into bubbles and disappearing... please feel free to! :D
Thank you for taking the time to view this.
