Mark Heinesa国际传媒檚 paintings evoke humanssa国际传媒� connection to the Earth and have travelled all over the globe.
There lies the irony in two of his paintings, which capture humanitysa国际传媒檚 dependence on the life-giving oceans and will be leaving the planet later this year, to live forever on Lacus Mortis, the moonsa国际传媒檚 Lake of Death.
Super compressed digital copies of the Victoria artistsa国际传媒檚 paintings, Imminent and Duress, will be included in The Lunar Codex, a collection of creative works from 3,000 artists worldwide that will be sent to the moon aboard the Peregrine Lander in December.
His two moon-bound paintings are from a series called Sirens that hesa国际传媒檚 been working on since 2014.
sa国际传媒淭he fact that this whole series of work is about trying to take care of the planet wesa国际传媒檙e on now sa国际传媒� and then itsa国际传媒檚 going to be off on the moon sa国际传媒� is kind of a strange contrast,sa国际传媒� Heine said.
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sa国际传媒淥ur hope is that future travelers who find these time capsules will discover some of the richness of our world today,sa国际传媒� says Samuel Peralta, The Lunar Codexsa国际传媒� payload coordinator and curator.
As his paintings await their lunar leap, itsa国际传媒檚 indescribable for Heine that his art will be among the galactic gallery.
sa国际传媒淚t basically just sits there for the rest of time,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 bizarre, itsa国际传媒檚 a very strange feeling to know that my work is going to be off the planet.sa国际传媒�
Heinesa国际传媒檚 cheery personality comes out with each jovial laugh, a contrast to the mystical visuals of drowning desperation, coastal wistfulness and sorrow told by his brushstrokes in Sirens.
| A digital form of this painting, Duress, by Victoria artist Mark Heine will be going to the moon later this year. (Photo courtesy of Mark Heine) |
While his art is reaching the highs of space, itsa国际传媒檚 the home of Earthsa国际传媒檚 depths that inspire Heine. The oceans have been central in his life since he was young and itsa国际传媒檚 led to him putting all of his artistic might into preserving them.
Hesa国际传媒檚 in the late stages of finalizing a fictional book that plays off the characters of the Sirens paintings. Heinesa国际传媒檚 artistic process has been an interplay between his paintings and his writing, with each inspiring the other along the way. The book is a contemporary interpretation of Homersa国际传媒檚 Odyssey and tells a tale of Sirens sa国际传媒� creatures from Greek mythology sa国际传媒� that are harmed by mankindsa国际传媒檚 pollution, garbage and species exploitation. He hopes his storytelling will get youth fired up about environmental sustainability.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 really the ocean crying out to us to try and change the way that we treat the environment,sa国际传媒� Heine said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 about trying to give a personality to the ocean.sa国际传媒�
He sees young people burnt-out by a bombardment with gloomy climate change issues and a hurting Earth, so he hopes a different perspective will awaken their desire to be the planetsa国际传媒檚 saviours.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 trying to get them interested in the story and give the environment more of a voice,sa国际传媒� Heine said.
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