These two new works on paper are a continuation of my interest in water. Regular readers will know very well of this intense interest. Please have a look at this previous post, which also has links to other earlier posts http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/11/murray-darling-currency.html
Can We Eat Coal For Breakfast?...NO
Can We Eat Coal For Breakfast?...NO was inspired by a number of things, but two are significant. The first is that about 2-3 years ago I took my youngest child out to Dalby, where I grew up. She had never seen where I came from and I thought it would be a great mother/daughter pilgrimage. On the drive out to Dalby, and as we got closer, I could not get over the number of mounds of coal. In fact, I must have had my head buried in the sand, because up until then, I had not realised the extent and growth of the mining industry in the region. Since that trip open cut mining's burgeoning partner ie: Coal Seam Gas is also changing the landscape, both externally and internally [underground aquifers].
In the painting Can We Eat Coal For Breakfast?...NO, the two mounds, painted with small dark $ signs, represent coal mounds. The red $ signs underground signify the potency of the soil and the environmental dilemmas confronting citizens of the planet. The white layer on top of the soil and underneath the mounds alludes to the disastrous potential of soil salinization.
The second significant influence for this painting, and its title, was hearing about a grass roots action group called Coal4Breakfast.
Value
Now to Value which speaks of how we value our land. Soil is not something we should compromise in any form. For me, risking soil quality, should not ever be considered...even a small risk. Soil quality underpins food production, not only now, but into the future, both foreseeable and not foreseeable. Compromising our soils diminishes the quality and amount of produce.
Food in the Future
BUT...HEY...in the future...if we don't have food we can always come up with some kind of alternative...pills, intravenous drips, nanobot internal distributors we replenish once a year! Oh what fun... replays of Masterchef will seem like fantasies as our great and great-great grandchildren ask their parents , 'What are those people doing?' ....'Cooking? What's that?'
PUBLIC FORUM
Tonight [Monday 22 Nov, 2010] there is a public forum at the University of Queensland 'Environmental Implications of Coal Seam Gas and Coal-to-Liquids Projects'
The list of speakers looks impressive.
Cheers,
Kathryn
4 comments:
I know what you mean about coal mining changing the landscape. In my area mining for "clean coal" is being mooted from the beautiful Liverpool Plains area of NSW. I love your work. Just as an aside I have just rediscovered gouache and am loving it's matte, clear look.
There went my cookbook. Just when I thought it was in reach now I get an IV, my luck.
Hi Rosalie, Thank you for visiting and your comments. I attended the public forum I mentioned in the post...the complexity of the issues surrounding CSG and Coal mining is frightening eg: One important issue clearly stated by the soil scientists is that the types of soils on the Darling Downs cannot be rejuvenated. Glad you are enjoying gouache. Cheers,
Kathryn
Hi Ron,
No excuse! You have to write your recipe book, just add a few concoctions for nourishing pills or IV drips. Imagine your book, along with all other recipe books, being read as fantastical impossibilities in the future!
K
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