Description

Underwater Lovers

Artist Statement: Abstract art

“Usually seen in pairs, the Lined Butterflyfish (Chaetodon lineolatus) offers a poignant story of underwater partnership—a beautiful synchronicity set against a brutal battle for survival.

As ‘obligate corallivores,’ these fish are biologically tethered to the health of the reef. Their existence is a mirror to the coral; as the Great Barrier Reef faces the repeated mass bleaching events of 2024 and 2025, their primary life source vanishes.

In this work, I explore the juxtaposition between life and loss. Using new abstracted techniques to create rhythmic, tribalistic patterns, I then apply these designs onto the canvas with oil paints. This process serves as a physical metaphor for the bleaching itself—a painstaking removal and scarring of detail that reflects the reports from the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

The result is a study in contrasts: the enduring, instinctive movement of this loving pair of butterflyfish surviving within a landscape that is rapidly fading to white. It is a celebration of resilience in a habitat at its breaking point for two Underwater Lovers.”