Death for Birth

By Prim Skoosangchaya, 2021

Artist statement: Death and birth are integral to Earth’s history; the Neogene Period ended and the Quaternary began, humans die and are born, roses fall and blossom. In our collective effort to deal with the climate crises, death and birth are also needed; we need the death of detrimental paradigms such as human-as-conqueror of the ecosystem and nature-as-economic-resource for greedy exploitation; we need the birth of ecologically ethical paradigms, such as human-as-member of the biotic community and nature as ‘the home’ to which we all are obligated to take best care of.

It is human to be afraid of death. By death I do not only mean the death of the physical body, but also the death of certainty. Clinging onto the known and avoiding or even rejecting the unknown are our natural tendencies. Yet, if certain deaths give birth to better and more beautiful existence; if the death of a mother wolf, although tragic, gives birth to a new man who dedicated the rest of his life protecting her descendants; if the death of some deers gives birth to trees which blanket mountains and protect rivers from erosion in Yellowstone National Park; if the death of generations of salmon who crashed themselves against Elwha Dam on the Elwha River in Washington state gives birth to the largest dam removal project the world has ever seen and more importantly, to the lives of their younger generations; if the death of destructive paradigms can give birth to constructive ones that will yield us better life quality and more chances for survival as a human race; if death means birth, should we not try our best to transcend this which humans are most fearful of?

The colour black in this painting signifies death, whereas the yellow, orange, gold, silver and white signify birth. Death for Birth invites the viewer to let the destructives and the non-essentials in life die, so that the constructives and the essentials can be born.

There are areas where darker and lighter shades mix together. The integration of colours communicates the transformational processes of voyaging from a death to a birth. It reflects the sense of uncertainty one faces when learning to let go of darkness and jump towards the direction of light for a better life phase one hopes to reside in. Such a voyage is vital for our effort to re-inhabit the inextricably interwoven living community we call Planet Earth.