2021

I did a portrait of Greta Thunberg because I admire her insistence that world leaders act to address the threats to Earth's survival. The background water and yellow slicker recall her sailboat journey across the Atlantic to address the U.N. Climate Action Summit. The background also represents the shifting and ambiguous physical and political environments she faces. Are these oil slicks or beautiful reflections? Are leaders going to act or slip away from their responsibilities? Working from a photograph, I saw her strength and intelligence. But I also saw her vulnerability and pain, which few images of Greta Thunberg portray, though I often hear them in her voice.