2010 Joint Winner: Henrietta and Lola Anne Tunbridge Watercolour Scholarship

 

Statement:

The past decade has seen an increasing awareness of climate change and environmental pressures the growing global population is inflicting on natural resources. Recently scientists have expressed frustration over the difficulty of communicating environmental issues to the public (Bunting), and I believe that art has the capacity to fill a vital intermediary role. This series of water colours is part of my wider body of work regarding New Zealand freshwater, as a continuation of my ongoing exploration of global environmental and concomitant societal issues.

Water is a precious resource which we often take for granted in New Zealand. We are lucky to still have pristine wild streams and rivers, but Freshwater Ecologists have recently drawn attention to alarming statistics for a country which proclaims to be 100% pure. Notably, the Manawatu river recently topped an international survey of the Western World’s most polluted (by dissolved oxygen count)(Cawthron Institute qtd in Burns & Morgan) and up to 90% of our lowland rivers reportedly no longer suitable for swimming.

Part of my research practice has involved facilitating the collection of a wide range of freshwater samples from across New Zealand via the internet. These water colours are created from these sources; the water sample is used on a homemade (red cabbage) indicator paper, to paint a portrait of the person that sent it. Depending on the acidity/alkalinity of the water sample, the paper changes colour. A green tinge indicates alkalinity; the more blue/violet tinge suggests acidity, with a range in between. The images fade slowly in the light; illustrating our explicit connection with, and dependence on water. In the words of Bruno Latour:

"Air, water, land, all of those were present before in the background: now they are explicitated because we slowly come to realize that they might disappear —and we with them"(Latour 3)



Bunting, Madeleine. "Art and Climate." RSA Arts and Ecology Magazine (2010). <http://www.artsandecology.org.uk/magazine/features/madeleine-bunting>

Burns, Kelly, and Jon Morgan. "Manawatu River 'among Worst in the West' " Dominon Post on Stuff.co.nz (2009). November 26 <http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/3097575/Manawatu-River-among-worst-in-the-West>.

Latour, B. "A Plea for Earthly Sciences." Bruno Latour (2007). April.<http://www.bruno-latour.fr/articles/article/102-BSA-GB>