Lucy O'Doherty, Melting Landscapes

In 2021 Lucy O’Doherty was asked to make a series of four artworks in response to Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops, a series of short films that explained the concept of feedback loops in nature and how they are triggered by, and in turn accelerate, the warming of the earth caused by our fossil fuel emissions.

Narrated by Richard Gere and launched earlier in 2021 year by Greta Thunberg and the Dalai Lama, the films feature interviews with leading scientists combined with beautifully shot footage.

The works reflect aspects of the climate feedback loops affecting forests, permafrost, atmosphere and the albedo effect that have been set in motion by rising temperatures.

Lucy continued the series, making a further four works for the exhibition Melting Landscapes.

View the series of videos here feedbackloopsclimate.com

Melting ice mass

“Here I wanted to emphasise the contrast between the stark white and diminishing form of an ice mass capable of reflecting the sun’s energy to the dark open water exposed as the ice melts, which absorbs a huge amount of incoming solar radiation. In the background land ice has already melted revealing green mountains underneath.”

Wind whipped landscape

“In this artwork I wanted to capture the movement of a hurricane transforming a wind whipped landscape with lights from an emergency vehicle glowing through the foggy blue grey scene.”

Forest on fire

“I wanted to use colour in this work to convey the engulfing intensity of a forest on fire. The silhouettes of the trees are blended to the point that the lines are dissolving, mimicking the blurred haze caused by heat and to suggest this forest is a ghostly apparition of its former self.”

New lakes and craters formed by thawing permafrost

“This is my slightly surreal interpretation of permafrost thawing and creating new lakes which release previously buried methane into the atmosphere. In the background a hole in the ground references the massive crater like holes that have been appearing in Siberia as a consequence of permafrost thaw.”

Lucy O’Doherty, 2021