Seven/Tenths

Jane James

It has been my extraordinary privilege to have spent a life in, on, and beneath the ocean. In my lifetime I have seen enormous changes in this environment, and feel a responsibility to raise my voice in concert with those acting to preserve this fragile and unique part of earth's ecology.

Developed over a five year period, these works speak to the interdependence of systems, and the fragility of the balance between them.

These views of the Great Barrier Reef are abstracted ones. Seen from underwater the various reef systems are mirrored on the liquid/gas interface, and the domed sky is visible above. They capture various surface conditions, reef systems and depths. The locations are in the southern reaches of the Great Barrier Reef, where bleaching and climate effects are still relatively mild.

The latitude and longitude coordinates that form the titles of these paintings mark my exact position when taking the reference material for each piece.

The rope is knotted at one metre intervals, and references the nautical convention of using a knotted line (log-line) to determine speed. This was tied to a ‘log’ dropped over a ship's stern. It also refers to the expression 'rate of knots', used to describe something going fast. These works stand as a call to action. The time to act to protect this massive and vulnerable ecosystem is now, and the daily choices we all make impact it.