My personal work has aways been inspired by, and taken its cues from, nature. My current work tends to focus on a conservation and environmental message, with a desire to represent at-risk and vital natural diversity.

Australia’s biodiversity faces multiple risks. Climate change, with increased droughts and severe fire events, invasive species, habitat depletion and fragmentation add up to an overwhelming combination of negative impacts. Laws meant to protect nature are repeatedly ignored, and international treaties are disregarded. Constantly, developments and projects proceed in the face of independent environmental advice recommending that they should not. Ending native forest logging and introducing national revegetation programs could start to rebuild habitats with integrity for the rarer and at risk species.

This work represents the fragility and vulnerability of our unique flora and fauna, in this case an ancient plant species, the Banksia. I see it as quite a sentinel species providing a food source for a broad range of biodiversity. While it is a plant which can endure an arid climate, poor soils and moderate fires, the effects of predicted environmental changes could see it struggle to regenerate and thrive. Our ecosystems are made up of a complex structure of a multitude of organisms, each with a critical and pivotal role in the continued health of that system.