Inspiration for this piece came in part from Margi Prideaux’s _Fire: A Message from the Edge of Climate Catastrophe_. This amazing book manages to be both a gripping personal account of living through Australia’s Black Summer fires of 2019-20, as well as a professional analysis of the factors that give rise to the more frequent and devastating climate-related catastrophes of our time. At one point in the book, in the immediate aftermath of the fire, Prideaux recounts how it felt to bear witness to death, destruction, and ruin in such a personal way—to her own ecosystem and community. She describes a scene involving countless carcasses of animals who had attempted to flee the fire but had inevitably perished: twisted remains caught in fences; those mummified in place while running on stumps, feet missing; and birds struck down in mid-flight. My painting imagines the terror of the moments just before. Mixed media collage: The background is a traditional (non-digital) painting in ink; red tones dominate. The foreground shows a semi-closeup photograph of a bird awkwardly clinging to two branches, one in each foot, mouth open. The bird appears to be backlit. (Photo and ink painting both my work; no AI here, as always)
As Our Skies Engulf Us ~
The scariest fires are the real ones. Inspiration for piece in ALT.
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