“The flow of life and human interference”

 Something that really intrigues me in relation to environmental commentary is the human position in the situation that is our environment. We are animals, we are descended from ancient ancestors who lived among the creatures we distinguish ourselves from, and yet we have become so much more than that. I think a lot of human thought about the environment comes from a savior lens, intentional or not. Thanks to how we are as a species, we hold an underlying idea of pretentiousness that we are more advanced, and thus what we do to the place we live ultimately doesn’t matter as much as the people do. We often forget ourselves, and our place in the natural system of life. I wanted to highlight that.

My sketch includes depictions of our natural world in browns, greens, and oranges - a simplified version of what we live in. The process of animals living and dying in this ecosystem is located through the “porthole” in the center of the frame, in a sea-like vortex, depicting fish swimming through the ebb and flow of time. It holds up in a spiral, and it is in the shape of a human fingerprint. In contrast, we have gray human structures - hands, embellished with the inescapable animal touch (the white lines) - and a set of steps to reach the porthole. The human has made the steps up to interact with the porthole, but their touch into the natural way of things taints the water and wreaks havoc on the nearby environment. Their stained limbs and footsteps up the stairs highlight curiosity from previous discovery, which - intentionally or not - disturbs the natural ecosystem.

Ultimately, the human is an animal too. It is the same color and glow as the animals in the natural world. But it forgets itself - by having left the porthole and returning with non-animal (black) influence, it can only harm the place it came from.