This is the first of a series featuring artists inspired by Graveney Marshes. Local artist, Rachael Dickens, makes work featuring a wide variety of materials, often prompted by the things she finds washed ashore. A member of the Whitstable drawing group DABS (Drawing and beyond) Rachael says, “We have a theme to work with each week and this week it’s ‘secrets and lies’.
I wanted to return to Graveney with this theme. I am struck by the lack of transparency in the renewable energy industry, it’s difficult to know who to trust. The solar industry is definitely a corporate culture based on financial return which relies heavily on fossil fuel, mining for quartz and coal for their production.
The large scale of the Graveney solar power station is dangerous and destructive to people, the fragile ecosystem and the wildlife it supports and is the antithesis of a genuine green energy solution. But is sold to us as such. I question the current system which is based on the concept of infinite growth on a finite planet. This is a corporate self interest project, which reminded me of the theme ‘secrets and lies’.”
Stitched and printed from cloth and plastic from the beach near Graveney.
Prints made from found flotsam.
See www.rachaeldickens.co.uk to view more of Rachael’s wonderful work.