Reflection

“Bleached” shows the harm of coral bleaching as well as the natural beauty of the coral reefs. These two images form a sharp contrast, conveying the serious consequences corals have suffered due to global warming. The girl in my piece is surrounded by the coral reef while holding a bleached coral. Her hair is artificially bleached to white. The white hair conveys that we, as humans, really need to look at what we have done when we are careless and reckless and how devastating it might be to other species. The corals not only lose their color, they eventually die after being “artificially” bleached. Nature is god’s beauty, and we, as human beings, have no right to ruin it. Ocean creatures are very heavily impacted by climate change, but so are many other species. When I was making this piece, I felt sad and lonely for the bleached coral. However, I don’t think our situation is hopeless. More and more youth are getting involved in solving the climate crisis. It is something that we have to all work together to solve. Small steps will merge into a big step. One more bike ride, one less plastic bag... I will think of all the bleached corals and the beauty of the Earth in my daily life.