I based my artwork on the research of Katya Bandow. Katya is studying conifers. During the lab visit she talked about how conifers can’t adapt as well to the colder weather and climate change like most flowering plants so they may end up going extinct. This is bad for many reasons and more than just them looking pretty. They provide homes for wildlife, absorb a lot of carbon from the atmosphere and due to their long roots, they help prevent soil erosion. This is only a few of the reasons they are important to the environment.

My artwork shows us exactly where conifers will be in the future if we let things continue the way they are going. The last remaining conifers will remain in science labs and that’s if we are lucky.

I used clay to make the beaker that homes the conifers that were made with polymer clay.

The conifers were painted with a green acrylic paint and with a varnish to make it shiny to show they will only thrive in science labs if the climate continues to change so quickly. A light is put into the bottom to help the viewer see how they are alive and surviving in a remote and controlled environment.

This experience has taught me that the plants around me may not be there as I get older and the same plants I’d pick and
mess around with will slowly fade away, disappearing from the environment. I hope when people see my work, they can see the changes we need to start to make to save our environment and to help open people’s eyes to the things we are losing around us.