This is a series of images created as a reaction to new research reports explaining that at current rates of carbon emissions, global warming is set to pass the 2 degrees C threshold by 2050. This was to be the maximum allowable increase in global temperature agreed by international accord.

I thought about what flowers might look like if the earth’s temperature did increase two degrees. I imagined delicate petals fragile and damaged from lack of moisture, washed out colours from the bleaching effect of the sun’s scorching rays. To create this series I used spot lighting to illuminate the flowers from different angles to create an over-exposed, almost eerie look, symbolizing a world with too much light and heat. The lighting technique transforms the colours to translucent hues alluding to the fragility of the environment. Cropped tightly, each image becomes an organic abstraction or landscape that is both beautiful and showing signs of stress.

Digitally added lens flares suggest an excessively hot and bright environment, while softly mottled textures represent the damaging effects of heat. A tiny flame as a symbol of excessive heat is hidden within each image, looming quietly within the petals as an unseen threat. The pale text creates a sense of urgency, alluding to levels of global political awareness and co-operation to act upon the problem; often barely visible.

I chose to have this series printed directly onto acrylic blocks because I wanted light to pass through the image to create ever-changing colours and effects as the light changes: all to enhance the symbolic meaning.