Turbulence

From my home I look out over the North Sea, and watch how the mass of water draws back and forth, temporarily changing the conditions of the ecosystem with each rise and fall of the tide. As the water laps at the shoreline, and waves crash onto beaches and coastlines I know around the world, I think about how old the water is that fills our puddles, glaciers, seas and oceans. This precious entity which supports all different forms of life, in every part of the world flows in an Earth sized system. Our atmosphere hangs heavy with water vapour, and glaciers move slowly down the mountains, sculpting the land as they go. The water inside my blood and brain has travelled down rivers and streams and crossed oceans, before residing temporarily inside my body. These same water molecules will flow through the bodies of life which will exist millions of years from now. The fragile ecological systems that have developed over billions of years are being eroded and the price is being paid by humans, animals and ecosystems across our planet.

This work was produced for the Glacial Movements and the Ghaib project, a Lumen x Pak Khawateen Painting Club collaboration. The project is part of the British Council Pakistan-UK New Perspectives 2022 programme.