| I paint in watercolour because I love the honesty of this medium. With a limited palette of Cerulean Blue, Magenta, and Winsor Yellow, the marks are unforgiving—just like our impact on the land. The cerulean rectangles evoke snapshots of the Australian sky, capturing my memory of the cockatoo’s desperate search for home. The repeated blackened stumps in the painting echo the stark aftermath of bushfires and human intervention.
Bushfires and land clearing for agriculture and housing are taking a devastating toll on wildlife habitat. Large, old trees with hollows—essential nesting sites for birds, gliders, and possums—are becoming increasingly scarce. They’re sought-after real estate (excuse the pun), and the competition is fierce.
Alix paints in colours that are not a true representation of her subject but colours that sing to her about the beauty of her focus. Who can experience beauty if it is already gone? Concerned with the threat to Australia’s unique flora and fauna. Alix has realised that as an “Artivist” she can contribute to conservation by education through her paintings.
A group of cockatoos is known as a crackle—a fitting name for a species whose voice is loud, proud, and now, increasingly homeless.
|
