"Inferno of Emotion" 2019

Water colour, graphite
Winslow 300gsm Watercolour Paper
A depiction of the raw human reaction to the destruction of habitats and homes during the Black Summer fires along the South Coast in 2019. Everyone across Australia felt a degree of fear, whether or not they had any relation to the places impacted - a country is a collective home, and the impacts of climate change are hostile to say the least.
The portrait isn't of any particular person, but I think I wanted to use the face of someone who doesn't exist outside of my imagination, as a canvas for the expression of the thousands affected.
I thought to illustrate how I felt. How I felt about the multi generationally lived in family home we have at the south coast, how my cousins at the time had to evacuate onto the beach, how my family friends risked falling branches just to drive to our home there and check what was left. New Year's Eve that year had a sombrous energy, but at least we felt it together.
I thank Teen Breathe for accepting my article and illustration for the beginning of their "community" branch online for other young teens to contribute their talents and passions to.