The interactions
How do we differentiate the natural from the natural? How should we separate nature from culture? Nevertheless, humans are a part of the eco-system, perhaps we should not regard ourselves as the superior species. The problem of global warming is becoming more and more urgent, pushing us to thinking how we should relate to nature and position ourselves in the wider environment. This section explores the intersection of man-made and natural landscapes, alongside human interactions with other species.
Zsuzsanna Ardó
No Man is an Island
The photo attached is a 150x90cm work on paper, in watercolour, ink, collage on paper, a sextet, the title is SexTet.
Lucie Gourmet
Unnatural habitat
It is composed of real leaves and mixed media (water colour, oil pastels, white and black pen), the dimensions are approximately 21cmx28cm unframed.
The art piece represents a bird standing on bottles wrapped in leaves, as if it was standing on top of a plastic city. It represents nature because of the leaves and the colours of the bottles. At the same time, it is shows how natural and unnatural can merge together like the leaves intertwined with the plastic bottles. It denounces the pollution of the environment and how it affects the fauna.
In the dark
Medium: white pencil on an extra black A4 paper.
The art piece represents a cat in the night, with its fur in white. The unnatural side of this piece is the eye and the colours (as if the picture was a negative). Because of the light, we cannot guess whether the cat is black or white.
Elephant love
Zoe Andrews
The painting shows an elephant couple with their trunks intertwined. It seems unnatural because of the colour used, including the blue of their skin and their unusual eye
Don't bury the 'burys!'
this means war
The conspiring squigrrel, the sipping squirrel
Piece 2 is a humourous yet very realistic plea to encourage people to lessen their single use plastic bags.
Pieces 1/3 are part of a collection. I currently have an ongoing war with a squirrel who continually breaks into my flat and steals items of food. Subsequently, this character of the squirrel is recurring.
Holly Newman
In this painting I tried to capture the vibrancy of the natural forms, and the dullness of the non natural - the vase the wooden bench. Ultimately its a reminder of how beautiful nature is and how we should appreciate its beauty
Flowers in vase
Medium: oil on cardboard
Emma Copsey
A comparison between life and death in nature
skull and flowers
Medium: Oil paint, ink
Amy Zhang
For the natural/unnatural theme I felt
instantly compelled to sketch a portrait of Greta Thunberg, the climate activist. Greta's face has become iconic and through her stern expression in passionate speeches, she is taken seriously in global politics, prompting
a global movement in climate activism. Greta is a symbol of growth in the global mindset towards sustainability and actively prioritising climate change in international and governmental policy.
Greta Thunberg Climate Warrior
Medium: Acrylic and Biro
Dilshat Camilla
1. Mountain Study
2. Dreaming of fish
I want to combine the real and the dream-like into the scenes I depict in painting. A recognisable subject, such as a cat, is transported into its own dream where cloudy fish taunt and towering mountains glow. There is almost a mythological aspect with how the natural world can be viewed where colours become exaggerated and stories are created. So make a story for my lazy cat sleeping between the river and the mountains.
Suzanne van Noordt
1. Butterflies
Medium: oil pastels
Butterflies are supposed to be a good thing; you have a ’crush’, they’re everywhere. A kind of twisted version of that is left behind when you let someone go who’s been there for a long time. So I had this idea of a dark kind of butterfly to show that feeling.
2. Twin peaks
Adeline Tsui
Medium: Oil on canvas paper
An exploration of the interplay between natural lighting and (unnatural) architectural forms. The sun-kissed element makes it so a once constructed human invention (buildings) appears fittingly natural.
Sun-kissed
Ida Ahmad
Jingjing Wang
Medium: Sculpture
Idea comes from my visit to aquarium in Devon. This is a sculpture of a ray and a jelly fish swim through each other's body. You may assume they are living together or there is a parasitic relationship between them.
They are all lovely marine animals in the nature.
Jellyfish & Ray
Boys at the beach
Medium: Acrylic
Based on a photo taken last summer of my younger brothers and father in Gjevillvatnet, Oppdal, Norway. My mother (not pictured) is Norwegian and they were visiting family and friends.
Moffat, Robyn
Yang, Yutong
'Mirroring Nature' reflects how humans are attempting to recreate 'natural' spaces in 'unnatural', urban environments. The use of mirrors and light artificially create a sense of 'natural' expanse. I, like the man sat, managed to find the unnatural environment a surprisingly peaceful setting; A setting not too dissimilar from my home in Dorset.
Wuzhen, Suzhou, China, a really beautiful and peaceful village
Ing, Gabriel
This photo has two opposing leading lines which feel like they converge in the background, the three cows in a line and the powerlines. The mix of the natural animals and the unnatural powerlines, combined with the ominous grey of the sky gives a sense that the ugly, man-made structures have become part of the landscape, and that there is no truly native countryside left.
Kyoka Seguchi
What differentiates the natural from the unnatural is firstly the brick wall dividing the image from the seagull and the sky. But also, the blue of the sky and yellow tones of the wall create a contrast so strong that it looks "unnatural".
We know we are near the sea. However, the wall splits the image so cleanly that we wonder if the sky continues on the other side of the wall. Is the ocean on the other side as well? Or is it on the side where the seagull directs its gaze? In this way, the theme infiltrates both the physical elements and also the aesthetic of the image.
(move your mouse on to the photos to reveal more information)