ARTIST'S STATEMENT: Human activity has induced the ascent of the sixth extinction through exploitation of earth’s resources. Unfortunately, marine life is not exempt from the consequences. The warming of the oceans has led to dire ramifications such as loss of marine species and coral reefs. In my painting, I have depicted two different possible futures. One illustrates a sea turtle surrounded by a thriving marine ecosystem, as opposed to the other, in which the same sea turtle is trapped in contaminated water. Light shines down on to our idealistic view of the sea portraying hope and serenity, in stark contrast to our reality where darkness blankets the water symbolising hurt and despair. The viewer is looking at these futures through sub-marine windows, taking shelter in a man made structure. This demonstrates our separation to what is happening outside mirroring our current denial of the harmful effects of human activity.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT: Humans would be the ones getting extinct at the end of the sixth extinction. I portrayed the extinct animals, an endangered dolphin, and a person lining up in a film tape as a warning that it will eventually be our turn to be extinct, like a scene in a filmstrip that would inevitably be played in chronological order. Unlike the five previous mass extinctions that occurred due to environmental pressures, “the sixth extinction” is driven by human activities like oil spills, ocean trash, and net entanglements. Vaquita is on the verge of extinction—only ten left—due to illegal fishing and entanglement in gillnets. Moreover, less than 10,000 Kemp’s Ridley Turtles are left due to pollution, overfishing, and humans’ use of artificial light. Furthermore, only 1570 Hawaiian Monk Seals are left due to net entanglements. Finally, tombstones symbolize the deaths of humans following the destruction of marine ecosystems.