June 2019
40cm x 40cm x 1.5cm
acrylic, oil and copper leaf on canvas
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In 2013 Sir David Attenborough told the Radio Times regarding Humans that "we are a plague on Earth". He was speaking specifically about our massive population and the impact it has on climate change and sheer space on our planet.
Being one of those Humans that he refers to I'm very aware of the impact our species is having on this Earth. Our industry continues to grow to match our population making our carbon dioxide emissions the highest they've been in 800,000 years. The rise of these carbon dioxide concentrations is mostly because of the fossil fuels that people are burning for energy. Here in Australia the abundance of fossil fuels that dwell beneath the surface of our country means that our government draws significant tax wealth from mining these resources. It's billions of dollars that our government isn't going to turn away from, despite the significant detrimental impact that the use of these fuels is having on our environment.
This painting is a direct response to David Attenborough's words. We are a plague on Earth.