This year for the Art of Conservation I wanted to create pieces inspired by the idea of "omens". There are both positive and negative connotations to this word. An omen can be a harbinger of something terrible to come, or a sign of hope and change for the future.
For me the latter resonates. I do not want to think of our future, particularly for the natural world, as doomed and beyond repair. I see so much hope and many people fighting to preserve and restore what is and has been lost, even if that battle is often uphill.
I created this piece representing a line between resilience and fragility. We are seeing all too frequently how fragile ecosystems are being disrupted by our actions. Small changes in temperature, acidity, and sunlight have huge and devastating effects on coral reefs. We create those impacts from climate change and pollution. Coral ecosystems have been thriving for millions of years, and yet within a single human lifetime we have seen the loss of countless reefs due to coral bleaching. What was once a menagerie of color and life is left dead, white, and empty.
But it doesn't have to be this way. While the balance of nature is perfectly fragile, it also is incredibly resilient. Nature finds a way, if only we allow it the chance. In my mind this piece can be viewed in two ways- either the coral is increasingly bleaching from right to left, or the coral is recovering from left to right. We have the opportunity to choose where this story ends. We can still make changes with big impacts, and it is up to us to decide whether we will make room for the resilience of nature to thrive, or whether we will let our current challenges defeat us. The ocean is resilient if we create space for it to be...
Our corals are an omen. Bleaching can be seen as the end of this unique beauty, or it can be seen as our chance to wake up, to take action, and to save what matters.
Handmade ceramic plate featuring hand sculpted coral reef with sea turtle, anemone, clownfish, octopus, fish, and various corals. Plate measures approximately 10.5" diameter and 1.5" deep at plate's edge.
All materials used are food and dishwasher safe. However, to best preserve your favorite animals I recommend hand washing.
I do my best to photograph every piece accurately, however, due to the many variations in monitors and browsers, the color of products may appear differently on different monitors and in different light settings.
50% of the proceeds of this piece will be donated to the Coral Reef Alliance to support their conservation efforts. To Learn more about their work please visit www.coral.org
To see more of Kelsey's work be sure to follow on Instagram @kelseyceramics
