My acrylic on canvas triptych comprises of naturalistic canyon backgrounds and the layering of imagery, including native plants, wildlife, and the presence of water. This imagery becomes the focal point of the paintings, revealing specific subjects that are affected by climate change. Emphasized through size and placement, the imagery in the first two paintings showcase life. The last painting represents death, as seen in the ghostly figures. It further symbolizes how powerless many aspects of life are to the destructive ways of humans. The other three acrylic on canvas paintings touch on animals that have been negatively affected by coal mines, factories, and human activity in general.

The premise of my mixed media paintings also relates specifically to the contamination of our earth. Each scene explicitly incorporates physical pollutants, created by consumerism, into the painted imagery. The paintings are done with acrylic paint. These works are both representational and abstract, and each image represents a real environment that is negatively affected by this human activity. With full hope, my aim is to bring to light the allure and awe of the natural world, and address the inescapable and harmful effects of pollutants. As a result, the wildlife shown is in a state of distress. These paintings therefore reflect the current state of particular animals that have subsequently become either threatened or endangered. My personal relationship with this subject primarily involves enjoying the opportunity I have to give viewers a chance to better appreciate and respect nature. In essence, I am motivated by the possibility that I can instill hope in the viewer. Hope that there is still time to initiate changes that can benefit the subjects of my paintings.

Prior to starting the mixed media paintings, the main question at hand was how to make the issue of pollution relatable. It is such a common and highly addressed topic that I had to find a way to proficiently address it. My decision to use physical examples of pollutants stemmed from the idea of creating interaction between the paintings and the viewer. I concluded that using everyday items, that are often thrown away as garbage, was an effective medium. This way, it might easily be revealed just how much each one of us contribute to polluting the earth. Selecting the pollutants starts with research of an endangered or threatened animal, that I eventually will use as a subject in my painting. The painting process is always inspired by the environment in which the animal lives, while the pollutants that I choose are ones that potentially affect the animal and its environment. This correlation is intended to be obvious to the viewer, while my imagery might further establish a greater understanding of the issue.

According to the published academic journal “An animal crisis caused by pollution, deforestation, and warming in the late 21st century and exacerbation by nuclear war”, by Kunio Kaiho, decreasing pollution and limiting global warming are listed as necessary actions when addressing animal conservation. There is no single plan of action though. There are many, and they all serve a vital role. Art addressing the destruction of nature has been around since about the time industrialization began to have a noticeably negative effect on this planet. A notable example of this is Coalbrookdale by Night, by Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg, 1801. The genres of environmental art and eco art have shed light on these issues and both movements had their start in the 1960’s. This is just shortly after a California researcher, in the 1950’s, first linked cars as a reason for air pollution. A common approach by environmental and eco art artists is to use physical materials in their work to inform the viewer of the crisis at hand, or as a call for change. For example, many of these artists have used various recycled materials as a medium in order to stress the importance of recycling. As an artist, I do the same. I take the issues of pollution and transform them into art, hopefully initiating engagement between the viewer and my personal perspective. To further advance my work, I also incorporate many found materials into it. Therefore, I give credit to the synthetic cubism movement, of the early 20th century, because it opened the door to the use of found materials in artwork.