This project is a personal meditation on the wildfires in my home country of Australia that connects its colonial past with its precarious climate future.
Through a series of landscapes and animal specimen images, this work is my attempt at coming to terms with the environmental and personal impact of the recent wildfires in New South Wales, which were the largest ever recorded in the country. Over a three-month period, these fires devastated a land mass larger than the size of mainland England, killing or harming three billion animals and causing a level of environmental destruction described by one commentator as omnicide. As these fires continue to grow in frequency and severity due to escalating global temperatures, the project raises the question of how colonialism and climate change are linked.
Using a variety of techniques, I have transformed the images to convey emotional resonance. These reimagined landscapes act as visual metaphors for both the visible destruction caused by wildfires and my own emotional response -fear, anger, and sorrow in the face of such loss. The gestures made with my brush reflect the broader theme of human interaction with the natural world, echoing our attempts to impose order on forces beyond our control. Through this process, I aim to embed a personal perspective into the work—acknowledging the devastation while also searching for moments of beauty and resilience in these transformed environments.
In other instances, I juxtapose these landscapes with images of preserved specimens, sourced from zoological museum archives in the UK, of either indigenous animals native to the region, or animals that were introduced to Australia only to become rampant pests. These juxtapositions point towards the often-overlooked historical links between 19th century biology, scientific exhibitions, and colonial logic, underscoring the interconnections between current ecological disasters and Australia’s colonial history. By highlighting the country’s scientific-rationalist approach to nature, characterized by the relentless pursuit of control and dominance, the project prompts viewers to confront the enduring legacy of colonialism and its role in exacerbating the environmental challenges facing Australia today.
