egg tempera on recycled wood panels
Growing up in a rural area of New England, I developed an early appreciation for my natural surroundings. The forest at my back door provided me with countless hours of entertainment. As I grew older I found it to be just as much a place for quiet contemplation and spiritual inspiration as for exploration and adventure.
It wasn't long before I became aware of the dire state of the natural places that lay beyond my backyard, sparking a need to act on Earth's behalf before I saw both her beauty and ability to sustain us destroyed in my lifetime.
The purpose of this project is to educate the public about the world's current environmental crisis. It is a political, social, and scientific exploration of what I believe to be the three most significant factors contributing to this crisis - overpopulation, global warming, and the destruction of Earth's tropical and temperate forests.
In keeping with the theme of the work, I used natural materials to create each piece. Mixing my own paints allowed me to maintain a certain level of purity and to choose the source of my pigments. Painting on found (often discarded) pieces of wood also helped to minimize the environmental impact and add a layer of visual interest, as I let the imperfections of the surface guide my brush and dictate aspects of the composition.
The result is a mural in six pieces, a visual narrative that represents the inter-connectedness of all life on Earth. It begins with the cycle of life, in its purest form, and evolves to show how human actions have and will affect the delicate balance of the world's ecosystems.
