Reflection

The Angler of the Dead Lake is an oil painting that shows a person fishing in a “dead lake”—a place where life has disappeared due to pollution. But instead of catching fish, they’re pulling up something more dangerous. The figure is blindfolded, symbolizing how people often choose to ignore the consequences of environmental destruction. The red, sharp shapes floating on the calm water represent the threats we’ve chosen to overlook. The idea for this piece came from the belief that cities and nature are not separate—they’re deeply connected. As cities grow, they often destroy natural ecosystems, and that damage doesn’t just disappear. It comes back to affect us. The dead lake in this work represents what happens when that connection is broken. While most of the painting is realistic, I used sharp, pointed forms to show the presence of danger, and I filled those forms with abstract color and brushstrokes. I did this because threats don’t always appear in clear or obvious ways. I chose oil paint because it helps express both the weight of the subject and the emotional intensity. Its texture and depth made it easier to show contrast between what looks calm and what’s actually harmful. This piece asks a question: What are we really pulling up from the world we’ve changed? Are we ready to face it, or will we keep pretending not to see?