Our Planet Week 2023

Activism piece: Survival match
Alcohol ink / Stippling collage

Our planet is changing due to human activity, some places change quicker than others.

According to a study, the arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the rest of the world. A varnishing habitat for species that depend on colder temperatures and ice. Today the artic is about 3℃ warmer than the year I was born. In just my lifetime habitats have shifted and changed drastically, and if things don’t change quickly we will see more devastating consequences for wildlife than what is already happening. Animals need to adapt or they will disappear and the biodiversity declining at an alarming rate in recent years will only get worst.

Everything is connected and biodiversity loss and habitat space is more interlinked in the arctic than in any other place on earth. I wanted to express this in my ARTivism piece ‘Survival match’. Arctic animals forming a flame, the ice underneath them already disappearing leaving them no place to live. While the subject is very upsetting, I tried to stay positive in my image, leaving hope, with the surrounding ice.

Activism piece: Reconnect
Alcohol ink / Stippling collage

Caring for wildlife often starts in our own backyards, by observing the world around us and looking at the small details that hold everything together. Children looking at a spider and feeling the spark to discover more rather than the urge to squash it…

I feel that this connection to nature, to insects, and everything that we find around us is vital towards gaining the compassion we also need to care for the bigger animals.

My love for nature started in rural France, surrounded by plenty of butterflies, moths, spider, caterpillars and bugs. The patterns, the behaviour and the colours have always been so fascinating to me and I am keenly aware that they are an absolute gift from nature.

I hope my drawing can raise awareness of the importance of these insects, bugs, reptiles and other crawly things, that all need our attention as much as the larger animals!