ECHOES ACROSS TIME

Echoes Across Time Oil on linen 97 x 115 cm 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is occupying our thoughts, dominating the media and changing our lives. 

In the midst of thinking about 'pandemic drones' and surveillance, plus thinking about the concurrent and continuing development of militarised drones, such as the RAAF and Boeing joint Loyal Wingman drone project, I felt the need to return to a quieter contemplation.

The result of this quieter contemplation is Echoes Across Time. While it might appear quieter, I still had thoughts about the current pandemic in mind. These thoughts, however, took me on a journey across time to previous pandemics - the Bubonic Plague of the Middle Ages, early nineteenth century cholera pandemics, the Spanish Flu that traumatised people just after World War 1. Paintings, drawing and prints created by artists across time clearly depict the anguish of pandemic, the ravages of illness and the sorrow of death. 

Like war, disease is a thread that weaves its way through human history. But, life continues. Sometimes lessons are learnt, sometimes not. 

Echoes Across Time 

In Echoes Across Time a red tree-of-life stands as a beacon in a ambiguous landscape. This landscape could be time. Below the tree, a pale blue dot could be Earth. The inference is that life as we know it is dependent on our Earthly environment. Another pale dot hovers over a distant horizon. Is this our moon? Or, is it a mirror image of Earth, but without the tree-of-life. If so, why? Is it Earth before life appeared, or is it a future Earth, after life has disappeared? What secrets do the echoes across time reveal?

Human future depends on how we deal with climate change, pandemic and war. That they intersect needs attention. Perhaps listening for and hearing the echoes of the past, and the echoes that bounce back from the future, are worthwhile undertakings. I suggest that art might help! 

Cheers,

Kathryn