Earth Is Showing Us Signs

In Yuriy Mattrosov’s painting called, “Nature is warning, Stop. Global Warming,” nature has been showing humans that global warming is increasing and we need to stop it. The painting depicts a skeleton, holding up the Nazi salute, riding on the back of a white horse. The horse seems to be charging into a city that is surrounded by trees that are burning down, covering the sky with smoke. The horse also has a terrified look on his face as if he knows that it will die in the fire. To the right of that, you can see all the birds flying away from the fire towards either glaciers or mountains. The painter says that the white horse symbolizes nature that is charging into death, which is not able to resist the actions of mankind. Mattrosov iterates that his painting, “… emphasize the importance of tasing awareness of the current. Climate change
emergency” (Mattrosov). The concept in his painting is to depict that nature has its own sense of what is happening in the world, how humans are treating it, and nature is warning humans that we are killing it.

When seeing this painting for the first time, someone might say that there’s a lot going on, but everything in this painting has its own individual meaning. When I first saw this painting, I initially saw the human skeleton riding on the white horse. The skeleton is holding up the Nazi salute. I think that Mattrosov purposely painted the skeleton holding the Nazi salute to show that humans are cruel towards nature. The horse also looks extremely terrified because it is running into a burning city. In the city, it is clear that the trees surrounding it is also on fire. The city also has what looks like a factory because of the pipes on the right side of the painting. The city is engulfed in flames and black smoke. The black smoke and be from the fire or from the factory that is directly behind it. The painting also includes a river, glaciers, and birds. The birds seem to be flying away from the fire, towards the glaciers. In my opinion, this painting is extremely meaningful. Mattrosov indirectly is telling his audience that we are killing our planet. This indicates that he acknowledges that we cause the forest fires, we hurt the planet.

A painting called “2080” by Michael Spence shows how the world would turn out if we continue to harm the earth. In his painting, we can see a person with a mask on and a hazmat suit. The suit has the word “warning” across it and I look like there is a crowd of people in front of him or her, all wearing masks. The masks, in particular, look like the ones that help people breathe unclean air. Spence also added a description of his painting. He states that “ ‘2080’ is from a new series of paintings that reflect my concern regarding global warming and the degradation of our planet. Forests are burning, plastic chokes our oceans and waterways, storms are increasing in intensity, and flooding threatens our coastal cities and communities” (Spence). In this painting, Spence wanted to depict how life for humans would be like if we keep on polluting our planet with garbage, metaphorically, and physically. There is one major similarity when comparing this painting to Mattrosov’s painting. Both paintings have the same meaning, that humans are destroying the earth. In Mattrosov’s painting, he uses a skeleton to symbolize death and in Spence’s painting, he shows a person in a hazmat suit, wearing a mask to show that the air quality is bad because of humans.

Another painting that I believe is impactful is a painting called, “Wander Painting”. This painting was created by Casper Verburg. He is known for his colorful and abstract pieces. He likes to paint figures and people. In this particular piece, you can’t see a face, it is more a silhouette of a man walking. In the painting’s description, Verborg states, “Transcending the individual, he does not stand for themselves but humanity. He is caught in a world that looks like that irresistible piece of candy that is actually of chemical substance, marching towards a colorful and toxic apocalypse” (Verborg). I think Verborg means that the man that he portrayed in the painting is in a world that looks like it is perfect, but in reality, it is in a world that is filled with waste. Verborg also references how our planet looks on the outside by saying that the man is caught on a piece of candy that in reality is environmentally unhealthy. This painting is similar to Mattrosov’s painting. Both paintings express how harmful the planet has become. In Mattrosov’s painting, he expresses that the planet is on fire, and in Verborg’s painting, he says that the planet is toxic.

Our planet is suffering because of humans. I believe that humans take each and its resources for granted. We don’t appreciate its nature. Humans took advantage of its clean air and everything that was natural. These days ancient forests are getting caught on fire and ancient glaciers are melting. The temperature of the planet is increasing every year and it is affecting not only us but the ocean. There is an article on a website called ‘Climate Change Connection” that focuses on forest fires. The article states that forest fires are most likely to increase by 40% as the carbon dioxide levels double. This also makes it clear that this doubles the number of trees that will burn. The article gives an example in which Canada’s forests have been burning out of control since 1977 (changeclimateconnection.org). Since the majority of the planet has been taken over by humans, it is certain that people will industrialize and create factories. These factories will create pollution and pollution will weaken the ozone layer. This ozone layer protects the planet from the harsh full rays the sun produces. This is when the earth starts to heat up and fall becomes warmer and summer beings excruciatingly hot. Because of this warmth, the trees that are in drier areas will catch on fire. Another article on iucn.org called “Ocean Warming” discusses how the ocean is affected by global warming. The article states that the ocean absorbs the majority of the excess heat from the greenhouse gases, which increases the ocean’s temperature. The increasing temperature affects not only the marine animals but its plants too. The temperature bleaches the corals so it loses their color. It also makes migration hard for many species that need to do so (Ocean Warming). The majority of the ocean is unexplored and we might be able to see some of the undignified species because of global warming. Global warming is destroying the ocean and its inhabitants. The third article is about how global warming is affecting the Arctic. The article called “The Arctic & Global Warming” states that global warming causes the ice to melt, which speeds climate change. Since the ice has been melting, this raises the sea levels all over the world. The author also expresses that the arctic holds oil, which is then used as fossil fuel, and burning the fuel increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. The meaning of the article is to show that the arctic is changing drastically because of global warming. Global warming is hurting our planet, from the forests to the arctic. These articles only prove that the paintings are based on reality. In our reality, the earth is slowly dying because of us. In the paintings, it depicts the fires, the melting of glaciers, and the horrible air quality that is discussed in the relative articles.

In conclusion, paintings can portray reality in a way that helps us visualize exactly what’s happening. In “Nature is a warning, Stop. Global Warming”, “2080”, and “Wander Painting” depict global warming which is caused by humans. These paintings are then backed up by three articles that explain forest fires, melting glaciers, and air quality.

Citations

“2080 Painting.” Saatchi Art, www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-2080/985067/6670111/view.

“Arctic Issues & Threats.” Greenpeace USA, www.greenpeace.org/usa/arctic/issues/.

“Climate Change Connection.” Climate Change Connection, climatechangeconnection.org/ impacts/ecosystems-impacts/forest-impacts/.

“Nature Is Warning, Stop Global Warming Painting.” Saatchi Art, www.saatchiart.com/art/ Painting-Nature-is-warning-Stop-Global-Warming/1000393/6912269/view.

“Ocean Warming.” IUCN, 5 Dec. 2018, www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/ocean-warming.

“Wander Painting.” Saatchi Art, www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Wander/4849/6729695/view.