Converse to Conserve utilizes painting and photography to share with viewers a combination of current and future realities concerning the North Carolina coastline. The installation of the work was influenced by magazine layouts, such as those seen in National Geographic, in an attempt to call attention to the conservation research behind the work. 

The paintings are surreal yet include realistic aspects, as the scenarios and situations I depicted are meant to confront the viewer with imagery that might inspire critical opinions on the fate of our coastlines. At the same time, I also placed an emphasis on the anatomical accuracy of the subjects and based these scenes within real life spaces to add context to these scenes from a futuristic, dystopian reality. The photographs serve as glimpses into the present and premonitions of our future. I utilized multiple exposures on a single piece of film, lens tilt and distortion, and collage to capture the feeling of our environment’s fleeting state of existence. 

I created this body of work because I want to advocate for the conservation and preservation of our oceans as they are integral to the overall wellbeing of our planet. I hope that by seeing my work and reading the accompanying informational captions, the viewer pauses to consider the impact of human action. If it was our collective actions that brought us here, could our collective intervention provide a means of moving forward?