PAULA PEETERS
Artist Statement

 

These works were created in the weeks and months after the September 2019 fire. They were intended to be shared online, hence their format (a cartoon composed of multiple small, square frames). I used these cartoons to document what I was observing in the landscape where I live, and to express the emotions I was experiencing at the time.

 

Each cartoon was drawn by hand, scanned to create digital images, and then shared on my website and social media accounts immediately after it was created.

 

In the spring of 2019, and summer of 2019-20, many people in Australia were impacted by bushfires. Many people understood the links between climate change, extreme weather and bushfires, and were distressed about the Federal Government’s lack of action on climate change. I hoped that my cartoons would bring this story to a wide audience, and also resonate with those people who were going through similar experiences.

 

I leave it up to the observer to respond to these stories and images in their own way.