Art for oceans

Originally published 25. October 2020 on emmelilla.com

Marine animals feature heavily in my work, especially sharks. They are the apex predators in their ecosystems, visually stunning, delightfully ugly and almost perfectly streamlined. Apart from the fact that I just really, really like to draw them, there's another reason I include marine life in my art.

Great White sketch, 2020

Just like our bodies, about 70% of our earth's surface is covered in water. The great blue masses we call our oceans, have supported life on this planet for aeons. It's the basin and birthplace for life as we know it. Today they are responsible for over 50% of the oxygen in our atmosphere, and home to an estimated 50-80% of the world's biodiversity. It's impossible to estimate exactly how many species call the these blue depths their home, so far we have only explored a very tiny fraction of our oceans.

The oceans support some of our planets most fragile and unique ecosystems, like coral reefs and kelp forests. Sadly, the effects of climate change can be seen and felt everywhere from the deepest darkest trenches, to the harsh open seas and shallow lagoons. Plastic and chemical pollution, acidification, overfishing and deep seabed mining are just some of the great threats to the life in our oceans.

This year's (2020) TV-Aksjon ( Yearly Norwegian fundraising event ) collected 228 millioner Norwegian kroners ( 25 million USD ) to fight plastic pollution. Actions like these do help, but alone they are but "drop in the ocean", without global fishing regulations and international climate agreements.

So this begs the question, what can we do? We need to talk about and bring light to these issues, elect representatives who take climate change seriously, and petition for international agreements. Choosing sustainable sea foods, and limiting your animal product consumption relieve the strain on our fish stocks, but also sends a message. It's important that we are aware about what's happening around us, in real-time.

I've always been fascinated with the sheer vastness of the oceans, in part thanks to growing up in a fjord. I can't imagine living somewhere without the possibility of laying my eyes on a piece of empty horizon. I've always thought the contrast between the brimming and highly diverse life that these basins support, with the visual emptiness so fascinating and self-contradicting.

I hope to bring awareness to these issues with my art. I want to show and remind people of the beauty of what we must protect, not just for the good of later generations, but also for ourselves, in this lifetime.

It saddens me to know that the oceans are changing at an unsustainable rate for the species living there, as a result of human activity. However, mother nature is resilient, and if direct action is taken, I believe there is hope to reverse some of the process.

-Emmeli