the environment

This section contains all my environment and social related work. The environment is under enormous threat; so is the very fabric of society.The causes are well known.

The starting point as a non-specialist is the headline subjects of climate change and loss of biodiversity.  These topics are then leading me to consider a multitude of other issues, such as deforestation and the damage that is being done to our seas.  Among the social issues that I am working on is the exploitation of unskilled labour in poor countries.

With the population of the World rising inexorably to around 10 billion, human society and its planet are being stressed. Homo Sapiens are both the main cause as well as the victim of a mutually reinforcing environmental and social crisis.

climate change

Climate change - a rise in average temperature accompanied by an increase in extreme weather events - is endangering our life on Earth, as we know it.

One specific issue that has captured my attention recently is that of the melting ice caps, and what this means for the penguins that live in Antarctica. Forced migration is something that increasingly will affect not just animals but also people and will become a major destabilizing force in the years to come.

the penguin project

The focus of my work in this area is the “sponsor a penguin” project.  My ambition here is to create another dynamic to the environmental movement in Luxembourg and beyond.

Penguins are at the front line of climate change.  The plight of penguins - enigmatic birds that capture the beauty, fascination and sheer wonder of nature - sums up not only the threats of climate change but its inter linkages with biodiversity loss.  

The aim of the penguins project is to use imagery to capture the story of the melting ice sheets and the loss of habitat in which these iconic birds live and breed, thereby helping to raise awareness and promote action against climate change and biodiversity loss. 

The main product is life-like, moulded penguins and this has led to a series of images now in print.  I am working with others, using new materials and new techniques to combine colour and form in ways that attract attention to the underlying subject.

“The planet is cracking up”

loss of biodiversity

Scientists now believe that the Earth is experiencing a mass extinction of species on land and in the seas, something not experienced for millennia. There are many causes, and my artwork here aims to illustrate some of these.

BEES

“When humans tug at a single thing in nature, they find it attached to the rest of the world.”

Bees are being killed off, mainly by pesticides, drought, habitat destruction,air pollution & global warming.

The IUCN Red List of endangered species has more than doubled in the past two decades.

Bees are quite a significant species on this list, as they pollinate a third of everything we eat and play a vital role in sustaining the planet’s ecosystems.

“overstepping our planetary limits”

Our environmental footprint is not sustainable since 1.6 planet earths are currently needed to sustain our lifestyles.

plastics and the oceans

More than 300 m tons of plastic are produced annually, yet more than 90% of this is not recycled and at least 8 m tons are dumped in the oceans each year (equivalent to a garbage truck per minute).  Plastic pollutes the air, water and the entire food chain threatening human life and wildlife.

The Oceans are also being over-fished and sustainable stocks are in steep decline. Take sharp fin soup for example.

Finning involves slicing fins off live sharks and tossing the wounded animals overboard, where they sink to the bottom and, unable to swim and pass water over their gills, suffocate, die of blood loss, or get eaten by other predators.

forest loss and degradation

“Eating Our Way Through the Amazon Rainforest!”

Rampant deforestation of Amazon driven by surging global beef demands!

social issues

There are enormous social issues in all regions and countries of the World, many of which have been exacerbated by the COVID 19 Pandemic.  But they were there before and they will be there after.  The underlying cause is often poverty.  Human Rights as defined by the UN Declaration are threatened in many ways, often related to gender and race.  I am only just beginning to explore such issues through my artwork.