Sentient Amongst Cinder
In Nature there is no time for sympathy.
Life is tough and only the fittest, strongest and smartest make the most of any opportunity afforded in order to survive.
Hwange National Park in Western Zimbabwe has Africa’s highest seasonal density of elephants. When there is a drought, huge numbers of these highly social animals that no longer have uninterrupted migration routes to more verdant pastures, will die.
Drought often also means fire, as the tinder like dry and windy conditions aid and abet the spread of wild fires, exacerbating the lack of food.
Yet amongst the ashes there is hope, for fire is often the catalyst to new growth, and within the cinder lies the shoots of new life.
With deft touch, an experienced female elephant selects the living from amongst the dead, and in so doing may herself stave off hunger for yet another day until the rains once again transform the complex canvas of Africa.
This work has many emotions etched into it for me, as we had seen many dead elephants on this particular year, but in this artistically beautiful charred russet landscape there was hope, a soliloquy of survival if you like.
I could see that those who ventured into the remnants of the flames would literally be the ones who would rise from the fruits of the ashes.
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Large: 146cm x 97cm – AED 12,205
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