Anthropogenic

Medium

Mixed Media

Dimensions

48"H × 36"W

Year

2024

This work is my reflection on the materials that once shaped human survival. There was a time when broken bones were mended with sticks, leaves, and clay; when our homes were built from branches, dried leaves, mud, and earth; when clothing came from hide, wool, and natural dyes. We lived in direct relationship with the planet’s cycles — including decomposition, the slow and essential process through which the earth repairs itself. In this painting, I revisit those origins through an anthropogenic lens. The materials I use echo the substances that now mend our bones, seal our walls, and stitch our clothes — yet each one contains toxic chemicals that interrupt the planet’s ability to heal. These materials made modern civilization possible, but they also severed us from the ecological wisdom embedded in our earliest ways of living. This piece is a meditation on how far we have drifted from the natural processes that once sustained us. It is a reminder that climate disruption is anthropogenic — born from our inventions, our extractions, and our refusal to let the earth decompose, regenerate, and mend itself.