About This Painting:

San Andres:

From the series of Marine World 'San Andres' is the graphic representation of an ecological disaster that occurred in Florida, US. where 7 Lionfish escaped to the sea from a local aquarium. These fish spread quickly and made it to the Caribbean becoming a pest and killing a significant number of native species. The Lionfish does not have any natural predators but humans. This undesirable pest made it all the way down to one of the most popular islands in Colombia ‘San Andres’. The Lionfish is rapidly eating all the smaller species and overpopulating the area. This goes to show how fragile the marine environment is and that every action of humankind impacts the environment in one way or another.

As a response to this natural disaster, the locals from San Andres island in Colombia are catching the Lionfish and selling it to tourists along with the story. They hope to reduce the population this way and stop the destruction of Colombia's marine ecosystem.

I have produced 7 paintings, one linocut and one ostrich egg inspired by this story. San Andres paintings have been very popular, I have sold some of these already and one of them (below) was awarded FIRST PRIZE at the Royal Adelaide Show 2015.

Inspiration

Since 2014 I have been working on a series of paintings entitled ‘Marine World’ with the aim of raising awareness for marine conservation and the environment. I want to remind people in Australia and the world about the importance of marine conservation. I want to touch people’s hearts by illustrating how beautiful, precious, and colourful marine wildlife is. Sometimes, as humans we forget this and take for granted what Mother Nature offers. Unfortunately, corporate greed and hunger for money is rapidly destroying all of Earths’ natural resources. If we keep this pace, there will be nothing left for future generations. Australia is one of the most forward thinking countries in the world in these matters, and has developed a sustainable framework in conservation and natural resources utilisation. By setting this example, other countries can follow. However, there is need for more awareness by the public and more lobbying of the government in order to strengthen conservation policies and stop gradually the depletion of natural resources.

Art is and has been always part of the humanity and will continue until the end of time. Its purpose is to provide enjoyment, education and thinking. I have chosen art as a means of expressing myself and make an impact in social groups, starting with my family and friends and then expanding to the local community and one day at a national and international level.