If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. Water is the essence of life on Earth.
“Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.”
British Poet, W. H. Auden
Yet while we all know water is crucial for life, we trash it anyway. 80% of the world’s wastewater is dumped—largely untreated—back into the environment, polluting rivers, lakes, and oceans. This widespread problem of water pollution is jeopardising our health and the entire biosphere that holds life. Unsafe water kills more people each year than war and all other forms of violence combined.
My artwork, titled ‘Tap of Toxicity’ won the ‘Notable Award’ at the 2021 Ocean Awareness Contest, Water Rising, by Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs. In this artwork, I have tried to illustrate how we are contaminating water, damaging our ecosystems, and impacting all life on earth. The tap symbolises the toxicity that humankind brings to our planet, poisoning our water, killing life nonchalantly. The most vulnerable among us are the first to die, but eventually this venom will circle back, overwhelm, and kill us all.
We have the power to shut off the tap, stop the abuse and re-energise the world with pure, clean water if we bring our minds to it.
Access to clean water is not a problem far away, it is in our face. And before we know it, the resources that we supposedly ‘tap’ into will become our biggest nightmares.
In my artwork, I have portrayed an underwater scene and tried to depict how water contamination is killing our aquatic life. As water is a transparent liquid, one can possibly look into water and see what damage we are doing to it. Yet, we choose to stay oblivious and that’s how our water acts as a mirror and reflects on who we are. A short sighted, seemingly selfish species as compared to water, which is inanimate, yet cohesive, altruistic, life giver.
Through my art, I hope to inspire others to think of water as a finite, critical resource to all forms of life. My commitment to combat water contamination continues to flow strong.