Susan Farquhar

This series of works is inspired by the writings of Margi Prideaux an independent academic in wildlife policy and law who has worked in international conservation processes for the past 27 years. Margi writes with the passion of one who is truly committed to wildlife conservation and never more so than now in the age of climate change.

Margi is my niece with whom I reconnected just a couple of years ago. She had just completed Global Environmental Governance, Civil Society and Wildlife: Birdsong After the Storm, an academic discussion of climate change, international governance and wildlife conservation involving local communities.

Margi will introduce such ideas to a larger audience in an upcoming book: “Threaded by a metaphor of an old weaver at her loom, Wild Tapestry: Weaving Wildlife Survival is presented as a narrative that joins stories of conservation experience around the world with political argument about empowering communities and securing the future for species and local ecosystems.”

Imagining through Margi’s words has been both challenging and engaging. My representation of “wild tapestry” is the warp and weft in the process of being woven by the animals, activists and ideas of collaboration, local conservation processes, NGOs and so on. Parts of the imagery look unbalanced, almost overcome by the weaving action. There is urgency in Margi’s words so I try to emphasize this with the raucous character of the textured surfaces and off-side composition. The drawings are intentionally broad, coarse and hopefully dynamic. There is nothing like the NASA space views, that I employ here, to imagine our planet’s future. I am always humbled when I see them online.

While not yet realized I think Margi’s ideas resonate with many of us. She articulates a way forward.