Artists Statement:
It was over forty years ago while a teenager that I became engaged in environmental activism. I was in part inspired by the sincere and boisterous actions of the environmental movement and in part encouraged by my father who ironically supported his family with meager wages earned as a logger. In one of our conversations, that most often started with my concern for his cutting down trees, my father agreed with movement. Informing me that most loggers understand the value of reforestation and he said there is no reason to go into the Old Growth Forests of BC. Reforestation now, (being the 1970s), will sustain jobs for future generations of loggers. He was saddened to see that Forestry had moved away from the supply, (lumber), meeting a demand, (building), business to becoming an Industry driven by profit.
My concerns for the environment have not wavered but my activism has taken a more creative path. With my artwork Shadow Forest, I create an environment where the once tall pillars of life have become faint representations of trees. In the shadowed impression of trees, our vision of nature is obscured, and we are left with a darkened empty reminder of what was.
The Research:
- SHADOW
- the dark figure cast upon a surface by a body
- partial darkness or obscurity within a part of space
- a small degree or portion
- an attenuated form or a vestigial remnant
- a shaded or darker portion of a picture
- an imperfect and faint representation
- an imitation of something
- a phantom
- a source of gloom or unhappiness
- a state of ignominy or obscurity
References: Cited readings
Old-growth forests and large old trees as critical organisms connecting ecosystems and human health. A review; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10311-021-01372-y
While progress has been made in some areas, humanity still has a major impact on the planet; A look at how the environment has changed since the first Earth Day https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-the-environment-has-changed-since-the-first-earth-day-50-years-ago/