TOTAL FIRE BAN
This image as a 75x50cm photographic print on archival paper, with burnt edges, appeared in the 'Fire' exhibition
Wednesday 6 June – Sunday 1 July 2018 at the Creative Space in North Curl Curl
with the following description
Dry sclerophyll forests are adapted to fire, but perhaps not to their current frequency and ferocity. The increase in fires is traceable to us: directly because of carelessly lit campfires - or even arson; and indirectly because of the effect of Climate Change altering temperature and rain patterns.
The flame-shaped appearance of the burnt trees in this image is captured in-camera, not created by subsequent digital manipulation. With the destructive nature of uncontrolled fire in my mind’s eye as a reminder of the fragility of life, I have burnt the edges of the picture and it is displayed as paper pinned to the wall rather than formally mounted. I want to capture the aesthetics of burnt bush: the duality of appealing to the eye but then evoking a deeper sinister fear in the heart.
We need to ask ourselves: What are we doing to earth’s environment?........
