(2021), 116.8cm x 116.8cm acrylic on canvas, oil pastel, varnish. Framed and ready to hang with Tasmanian Oak frame.

This painting is a requiem for Macrocystis pyrifera, more commonly known as a kelp forest, and Australia’s first federally listed endangered marine community type. They used to flourish on the east coast of Tasmania, my home state, but now only 5% of them remain. The temperature of the waters along that coast are rising at nearly four times the global average. These majestic forests grow forty metres deep, swaying and dancing with the swell of the waves. Their treetops form a canopy, spreading out to soak up the sun, which filters bursting sunbeams. The kelp forests provide rich, bountiful homes for thousands of species of marine life, and as a girl I used to imagine losing myself amongst the infinite ropy trunks. Today, I mourn that they are all but lost.