The Pollinators
24" X 30" oil on canvas Available from the studio For information ... Contact us This painting represents a moment in the second book of my Sirens series. The story point ... Pollinators are disappearing around the world. In fact 40% of all insects are on the verge of extinction. Pesticides are the reason. In 2018 Europe banned the use Neonicotinoids or "Neonics" ... one of the worst of them all. But even though Canada has proposed a ban, they still remain the most heavily used pesticide in the Canadian agricultural system. In China, pesticide use has become so bad for the insects, farmers are forced to pay children, who are small enough to climb orchard trees, to hand pollenate some high value crops, but that is just not possible for most crops. Then there's Brazil ... the Bolsonaro government has reversed the ban and has approved the use of Neonics and a host of other pesticides in the Amazon. This year, there's a reported half a billion bees dead there, according to the bee handlers associations, because scientists and environmental agencies have been muzzled. No pollinators, no crops ... no crops, no food. Writing has long been a integral part of Mark Heine's creative process. In the pursuit of his original artistic voice, Mark's writing has evolved to become the driving force behind his work and has led him to envision a world of his own creation. Sirens, the culmination of 35 years exploration, is inspired by the sea-nymphs, made famous in Homer's Odyssey. These underwater visions of mythological muse are rooted in the moments of an ongoing and developing fictional narrative. This complex narrative, involving human evolution and our natural environment, is the unifying conceptual thread that ties these surreal visions. |
