Betty Kovacic: All for Water Top 5

1. Medium

Water = Life, is the title of my work featured in All for Water. To make this work I used a sheet of industrial copper for a substrate. At one time, this copper covered the surface of our greenhouse worktable. This copper sheet has endured and exhibited the effects of twenty years of use; fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and other pollutants have left their marks on its surface. For me, this changed copper sheet is a metaphor for the effects humanity has on the Earth’s lakes and rivers.

2. Lived Experience

I have lived off-grid in a small remote community situated in the Rocky Mountains and spent much of my life in the wilderness of BC. Many years ago, I began to witness a frightening decline in many wild animals I once saw in great numbers. These observations inform much of my current work.

3. Lists of Vulnerable, Threatened or Endangered Animals

Water = Life is a mixed media work that features different kinds of imagery, including line drawings of endangered species. As part of my research, I consulted the Animal Welfare Institute website to learn about endangered species and to help me to determine which animals to depict in my work.

4. Adagio in Stings by Samuel Barber 

5. Matthew Rangel 

The printmaker Matthew Rangel frequently addresses environmental issues through his work. His ideas and aesthetic, particularly the linear aspects of his work and his use of maps, really resonates with me.