Man’s Footprint - (Finalist - Mid West Art Prize)

This work is inspired by open cut mining. There is almost a certain surreal beauty with its many layers and colours in the midst of this destruction and in the aftermath of open cut mining.  There is a sense of irony in the mining process that the beauty of our natural environment emerges with each layer that appears.

As an artist I have reached a point in my career where I feel that I have a responsibility and need to express a loss of connection and empathy with our natural environment.  As artists we have the opportunity to bring about awareness of our plight, no matter the genre or in which medium we choose to express our thoughts and ideas in, it is a step to re awake that sense of affinity, connection and beauty in nature.  

Unless we humans understand how important our deep rooted connectedness with nature is, and are prepared to protect it, we will ultimately loose that sense of self and caring for one another.