Artist Statement:
I am calling this mural “home fires” because it was the term that popped into my head as soon as I stepped into the house. The image of a house on fire seemed to me the perfect description for climate change. I felt compelled to draw the house itself (which represents the loss of human homes) and a forest (which represents non-human habitat loss). You will notice that these two different types of homes are connected. In both of these images I added a human witness that stands as a manifestation of my own anxieties about watching the changes brought about by climate change. Feeling helpless while observing ecosystems breaking down and people becoming refugees. What does it mean to lose a home? Where do we go? How do we make new homes?
To do these drawings I used candle smoke, a paint made from soot, wax, charcoal, and a little carbon black paint. I chose these materials because I like to work with mainly biodegradable stuff that’s non-toxic and not sticking around, and I like a messy experimental process.
Artist Bio:
Allison (or Allie) lives in Victoria B.C. and likes to draw, paint, embroider and experiment with whatever happens to be around. She studied painting and drawing at OCADU in Toronto before attending UVic where she got a degree in Geography focusing on Coastal Studies. Her art practice is all over the map and involves making natural inks, creating fantasy worlds in her head and drawing from her imagination. Allison lives with one foot in the world of science and the other in the mystic, standing comfortably on neither side.
Instagram @cedarcentric