Art and Science

This year I did a project for Xplore! Science Discovery Centre in Wrexham. It was a collaboration between myself and their Next Gen Earth Project which is a group of kids learning about conservation and the environment. The commission was to create three pieces of art based on different aspects of what the group had been working on.

Artivism: Creating a Brighter Future
This first piece is about art as activism - artivism - and how art can be used to raise awareness of the problems facing our world and also offer solutions for a brighter future. The group made zines and paintings about the issues that were important to them such as pollution, saving the bees, recycling and sustainable energy solutions and I incorporated them all into this piece of art. It shows a world in trouble but through positive and creative solutions we can create a future of hope and sustainability.
     I really enjoyed painting this especially all the little animals - can you spot the teeny tiny frog?

Achub Ein Moroedd - Save Our Seas
The group were very keen on ocean conservation and saving our seas and marine life. I asked them for a list of their favourite sea animals and I've included as many as I could into this piece (it was a very long list!). As well as highlighting the kids favourite sea animals it also shows the problems they face such as by-catch from fishing nets and noise pollution from boats affecting whale communication and navigation. It also depicts the importance of marine food chains on the overall health of the oceans and why large predators like sharks should be protected. The footprints in the sand represent the impact we as humans have on the coastlines and oceans, and how we are all connected to the natural world around us and should try to live in harmony with it.
     I was asked specifically by the group to include big shark teeth - I hope they're big enough!

Science Experiments with Water
This piece is about all the different science experiments the group did to learn about marine conservation and water acidification. They put vinegar on sea shells to learn about how water acidification due to rising CO2 levels in the oceans can cause them become bleached of colour and dissolve. The bubbles rising from the shells in the painting show the changing pH levels from acidic back to neutral as we use science to reverse the effects of ocean acidification. The goggles, lab coat and test tubes were all used by the group to conduct their experiments. They also used a microscope to look at microbial life in water which you can see in the circle of water in the background (as though you too are looking through a microscope). The colourful ball in the corner represents the rock marbling the group did using nail varnish to learn about the effects of oil spills. The boat is the RRS David Attenborough, a science research ship that the group were very excited to learn about.
     It was quite tricky to turn science experiments into a fun visual piece of art but I think I pulled it off! (and yes that is Boaty McBoatface).

The kids haven't seen them yet so hopefully they'll be happy with what I've made. I wanted it to be a reflection of them and what they found important so fingers crossed they like them!

Xplore! is a fantastic place for kids to have fun with science - find out more about it here