The painting is intentionally off balance. The right side is gloomy, derelict and the left side holds growth and life. The catastrophic damage humans are causing to Earth’s ecology places many of us in a state of anger and despair and simple optimism won’t bring about the change and solutions needed.

Stories about nature were always my favourite as a child; I’d daydream about being in hidden, unseen natural places where everything grew wild and untouched by humans. I grew up with a strong sense around me that if something didn’t change with humans, future generations would only know much of the natural world from stories or images of a time before, because it would no longer exist.

Every effort into re-wilding and ecological restoration I hear about brings optimism that it’s not over and the capacity for change exists. The human in this painting keeps their distance from the plants and insects, yet shines a light on them to illuminate their existence. The light gives sight to a more complex and diverse growth taking place behind the wall which can only be glimpsed through the broken mirror.

Within this painting you can find the following plants and insects. I chose these as they are all native to the UK and were all considered to be at risk, rare and/or endangered at the time.