Climate change and fragile landscapes showcased in artworks

>>> Polar icebergs and North Devon cliffs brought together in Bideford Rock Fall art work by Emma Stibbon

- by LEWIS CLARKE

ASTRIKING new exhibition at The Burton at Bideford is linking the dramatic impacts of climate change in the Arctic and Antarctic with the crumbling cliffs of North Devon.

The exhibition Melting Ice / Rising Tides which opened on May 10, showcases large-scale drawings and prints by Royal Academician Emma Stibbon, created during expeditions to some of the world's most extreme environments. The work captures fragile polar landscapes and draws parallels with the coastal erosion seen closer to home.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is a vast five-metre wide installation responding directly to the erosion and rock falls around Bideford Bay. Created using natural materials including earth pigments, carbon, sea water and the locally sourced pigment Bideford Black, the piece visually connects global environmental change with its regional consequences.