Lottie Blake-Manson

“The main message I want my art to communicate to viewers is the natural beauty of New Zealand through many different media, displaying how I perceive nature and conceptualise my ideas onto paper. I want to communicate what New Zealand is currently losing through my development of negative space. I want the viewers to see my art and inspire themselves to think about the habitat loss that humans and colonisation have caused. My use of colours begin natural and develop into a more sickly and distinct tone of reds and browns symbolising the corruption of nature that has been inflicted over the past decades.

Growing up in rural New Zealand, I have seen human effects whilst hiking and tramping across Aotearoa. My backyard and local parks have slowly lost wildlife as I have grown up. My art relates to my personal history as it shows my original childlike view on nature when I was growing up, only seeing the beauty and not the chaos or destruction that occurred or is occurring. My most recent pieces show my current history that is being made, as I have finally realised these destructive tendencies in my local area.

I hope that my art makes people take action of the receding bio diversity in New Zealand or help with the decline of native species due to pests."