Description
An ethereal image of a hovering Lanner Falcon suspended in space by conservation artist Martin Aveling who won the Environmental Artivism category at the prestigious David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year (WAY) Awards in London in 2024. It is an uplifting image, beautifully drawn in pastel pencils, and it locks in to Martin’s beliefs as an artist. It was a Finalist at WAY in 2016.
Mart coined the phrase ‘wildlife artivism’ in an effort to encourage stronger calls to actions in the creative output of working wildlife artists. In a highly visual and fickle world of social media, he feels that it is not enough to just keep presenting one side of the story.
“Things move so quickly these days that without ever showing the ugly side of protecting wildlife people risk forgetting it’s even there. We can’t expect people to feel motivated to take action to protect wildlife if they think everything is OK. By highlighting, in art, the challenges faced by wildlife, it presents a more balanced and honest narrative. Art has an amazing way of letting us contemplate certain uncomfortable truths in a more palatable space. Good wildlife artivism doesn’t ever compromise on sincerity.”
