The ants go marching

Triptych of drawings. Willow charcoal and pastel on Arches 300gsm watercolour paper, gesso, craft glue, collaged printed matter
56 x 200cm

This work explores possible future scenarios as directed by events relating to climate change in Australia. It features the critically endangered South Australian Nothomyrmecia, or dinosaur ant, which requires a temperature of just above zero Celsius in order to hunt. In a reversal of their current prospects –silent extinction – these ants now thrive. Humans are gone, and the ants have plenty to get on with. I reference our everyday lives with collage from advertising and other print media which have been flattened as the ants forage over our left overs and our memory. Charcoal is used – we are made of and return to carbon. The first drawing depicts little of nature except for the ants, and there is evidence of past human activity underfoot. In the subsequent drawings, many thousands of years hence, the ants continue to evolve and prosper as does their environment. They grow in size, walking on two legs. Only small plastic tokens of human existence remain. This work was a finalist in the Ravenswood Women’s Art Prize in 2023.