Description

Cliffside Olympia is a painting set in a time beyond the memory or recordings of mankind. It is significant in its portrayal of a peaceful landscape that would one day inspire questions from conscious lifeforms. These questions would eventually lead us onto try explaining natural phenomenon through mythology that would form the basis of some of the world’s first religious beliefs. The journey to explain our existence, the world we live in, and the universe beyond it would one day continue beyond mythological beliefs and into a field of testable theory and scientific exploration. If one looks closely, they can see the shadow of an animal peering back at the viewer from the woodline. While small, this animal is symbolic of the peace that was once an unperturbed nature, but the fact that the animal is peering out of its landscape into our current day one represents that the eminent feeling that something more was to come was present even then. It also shows that just as we peer  back in time, it peers forward. This is analogous to pictures taken in today’s time being viewed by future generations of man or another sentient species. The cliffside is a strong feature that stands out from the beautiful shoreline and sunset in the background, it has not been changed by the likes of mankind and won’t be for many years to come. However, in itself without the presence of humans to observe it or change it, it is naturally stunning. The waves that caress the land upon which it meets reflects the subtle beams of light strewn by a prehistoric sun. This peace is what the Earth used to be, without pollution, and without everything that we would traditionally see in today’s time. This painting makes me reflect upon my trips to the beach, and how I can never seem to go anywhere without running into the pollution left behind by others to clutter the planet. Whether it’s plastics, oil, radioactive waste, other harmful chemicals, or simply overfishing and the destruction of marine environments, we are destroying what was once a haven for diverse life in the seas and on the land in our solar system. If we do not work together in a unified effort to stop this, the future for this magnificent planet, and all that inhabit it is bleak to say the least. Earth is a natural wonder, and Cliffside Olympia portrays the simplicity of this fact while representing the need for our unified and individual action in saving it for the future lifeforms of this planet.