What made you approach this new series of work, called “Anthropocene Guardian Keepers”?
On the internet, a renowned newspaper article titled “65 % of biodiversity lost in the last five decades” with the photo of a monkey on top of a deforested jungle tree, got me in a complete standstill.
It was shocking, I couldn’t believe it!!
I thought it was fake news, but at the same time it got me doubting.
An urge to verify this was not true ran through my veins. we couldn't have done this!
It was the beginning of a four years scientific data research about the vulnerable species worldwide.
Once you start realizing the magnitude of the current problem and the number of different factors involved, it's drastically overwhelming.
Describe a real-life situation that inspired you? /Where do you find inspiration?
Talking about “scientists, biologists, specialists in biodiversity preservation”, is an enormous inspiration!
There are so many people devoting and committing their lives in studying and taking care of millions of species, driven by human behaviors to the possibility of extinction, that their invisible work is a massive source of inspiration.
And there of course is “nature”, one of the most treasured muses in art from the beginning of civilization and through all cultures.
Nature is an immense force, a soft calm, vitality, spirituality, creator of colors, a constant change, brutality and resilience, new life, opportunities and death.
Nature is the beginning of everything, nature is us.
Why art?
Art is so many things… and it can take different forms, meanings and purposes over a lifetime.
In this particular series, I found art as a way to communicate beyond words and languages the fragile state in which biodiversity has been driven to.
Art can create new ways in which to see a certain topic in another light, art is the missing voice of what nature lacks to speak.
What is the intent of your art? What visions, sensations or feelings do you want to evoke in the viewer?
Nature can be recreated through art to display the world´s natural beauty around us,
but art can also be used to open our minds and become aware of the environment’s current fragility and generate greater thoughts and ideas to at list contribute to this next big global challenge of nature preservation or we can also refer to it as a “wise human=nature integration”.
Are you planning any future exhibition?
YES!! My next solo exhibition will be held at the Contemporary Art Museum in Salta-Argentina, during October and November 2022, where this series is going to be shown. I´ll post photos here on the platform to share with you all.
I'd like to “thank you” Artmajeur for making possible for us artists a broader reach of our work and for collectors finding pieces they wouldn’t discover otherwise.
Olimpia Gaia Martinelli
