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About the Artwork:
This original letterpress print is a part of my Lungs of the Earth Collection about my time spent deep in the Peruvian rainforest for an artist residency with the ACEER Foundation. My goal with this artist residency was to create colorful artwork that shares the story of the vulnerable biodiverse rainforest and the Indigenous Maijuna community in their fight against the proposed road construction threatening their land and livelihood.
This print was inspired by the biodiversity and interconnectedness of the rainforest as discovered on my every day hikes across the forest floor during my residency. Each day I’d try to break free from the group of researchers and conservationists for a little alone time strolling the forested trails by our basecamp to soak up inspiration for this print series. I felt isolated from the bustling outside world on these slow strolls but never lonely, as the rainforest was never quiet nor empty.
Every tree I passed had at least one other plant or fungus growing up its trunk, if not ten. There wasn’t a single bare tree found. The variety of tree and plant combinations filled the majority of my camera roll. I don’t think I found any two of the same tree and plant combinations during the entirety of my trip.
Every single living thing in the rainforest was entwined with another, pairing together for mutual survival. No one was lonely, they were all in good company — hugging, hanging out and chatting with each other like a lively dinner party.
It became clear to me on these hikes, that the interwoven plant life of the rainforest is a microcosm of all of life on this planet, intrinsically interconnected through our communal living space on this big beautiful orbiting sphere. What happens in the rainforest affects what happens at home, wherever your home might be on this planet.
The Rainforest, its biodiversity and its people who sustainably care for it & depend on it are in trouble and need help. The latest threat to the health of the Amazon, and therefore the health of the planet, comes from the Peruvian Government with a proposal to build an illegal 135 km highway corridor directly through one of the most dense and biodiverse sections of legally protected rainforest. This highway would devastate the biodiversity of the forest, the Indigenous Maijuna people’s sustainable food resources and one of the world’s largest carbon sinks, releasing tons of carbon into the atmosphere, warming the planet even further, affecting us all.
$15 of every print sold will be donated to the ACEER Foundation and designated for the fight against the proposed highway corridor threatening the survival of the Maijuna Indigenous Community. If you would like to help the Maijuna, the rainforest and help fight climate change, please also consider signing the petition at change.org — thank you kindly!
