No.2 Burning Birches

Burning Birches is No. 2 in a series inspired by The documentary, Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet is presented by #davidattenborough and scientist Johan Rockström @pik_klima who came up with the concept of 9 planetary boundaries in @sthlmresilience. This piece focuses on land-system change and the loss of biosphere integrity — deforestation and drying landscapes that have lost their water and capacity to cool down.

No.2 Burning Birches references the birch trees growing on the slopes of Mount Etna — trees that had the privilege of time, evolution and wet climate to learn how to live with volcano fires without the human interventions. The fire in this painting isn’t the kind that allows for survival. Layers of red, orange wildfire cutting at the edge of the ash-grey birch tree forest landscape that was never given time to adapt — not because nature chose this, but due to deliberate human land clearing and prolonged droughts. A painting about the line between adaptation and destruction — and about how not every fire leaves new life in its wake.