Worry Beads for the Environment
Materials: hand-lettered words on black paper attached to spheres covered with natural-fibre papers
Technique: papermaking, paper collage, calligraphy
Size: 12 x 12 cm
Description: Humanity urgently needs to concentrate our efforts on solving the environmental problems facing our world. Rosaries and similar tools are used by people of many different cultures (both past and present) to focus the mind on prayer and meditation, and so a string of prayer beads seemed to be an obvious choice for this concept.
Each bead is covered with a different type of paper, and each features a different environmental problem. The use of a different type of natural-fibre paper on each bead symbolises the diversity of our flora (some species native to Australia and some introduced). The words on each bead highlight ten different, yet interrelated, environmental issues which now pose tremendous threats to our planet – these are black blots on our natural world. The smudging of the white ink further emphasises this continuing disintegration of our environment.
Habitat destruction; Extinction of species; Overuse of resources; Rampant consumerism; Greed and corruption; Environmental damage; Air pollution; Global warming; Rise in sea level; Overpopulation; Food and water shortages; Ozone depletion