Hailey Talbert's "Precipice"

"From the golden cliffs of Acadia to the glistening peak of Mt. Katahdin, every pine needle-covered inch of Maine inspires creativity. But my muse is dying. As coastal flooding swallows shores and wildfires sear forests to embers, I have come of age mourning Maine’s decay. While witnessing Maine wither, I grieve on canvas and paper. I write poems about the stress and uncertainty of approaching adulthood on a dying planet. I paint places I love as desolate and destroyed. I perform my poems at environmental activism rallies and youth climate writing workshops. These pursuits culminated in Precipice, my collection of original poetry and oil paintings which explores the stress and uncertainty of approaching adulthood on a planet threatened by the climate crisis. Precipice is organized around the five stages of grief in reverse, from acceptance to denial, and examines climate change through a Maine-based lens. A best-selling title of the Telling Room, Precipice gives voice to a generation living through our planet’s degeneration and asks the question, how does one grow up perched on the precipice of disaster? In Precipice, my words, brushstrokes, and clay-caked fingerprints fight for the future. Art is my activism. By engaging traditional art with contemporary issues, I battle to save a burning planet."

·       Materials Used: Oil paint on canvas, literary mediums (poetry)