Guarding the Forest

The inspiration comes from the designer’s concern for SDG 15: Life on Land. Amid an urban landscape filled with buildings, she suddenly realized that the disappearance of forests means the loss of more than trees, it is the collapse of an entire chain of life. When the gaze passes beyond reinforced concrete, the distance between modern civilization and nature becomes shockingly vast. The artwork therefore serves as a silent reminder, asking viewers again: “What have humans taken away?” The contrast between white animals and a blackened city symbolizes traces of life gradually fading away.

The most compelling aspect of Guarding the Forest is its use of only black and white to outline the fragile, tension-filled connection between civilization and nature. The deer, fox, and rabbit in the foreground are rendered through negative space. The wisdom of the deer, the agility of the fox, the purity of the rabbit, reduced to disappearing contours. The white signifies an impending emptiness, reminding us that humans are taking away their habitat.     The background city is built with dense layers of black, as if slowly devouring the forest. The light seeping through the windows appears cold and piercing, suggesting that the height of civilization does not necessarily equate to warmth.

     The textures of the forest are intricately drawn with fineliners. Lines resembling mist, vapor, and air currents give the natural environment a fragile sense of breath. The scattered black droplets symbolize pollution, few in number, yet striking, like shadows of civilization slowly seeping into the ecosystem.

     The deepest highlight of the work lies in how the viewer must interpret the contrast between “white that continues to fade” and “black that continues to expand,” realizing that life and the city are not in opposition but require a recalibrated dialogue of coexistence.The entire work is created using fineliners and markers. The restriction to black and white instead amplifies the density of the details. Fine-line strokes portray the fibers of leaves, clouds, and air currents, precise and deliberate. Large black areas are built up layer by layer with markers to convey the heaviness of the city. The high contrast between black and white makes the animals’ negative space appear ethereal, as though light is seeping through them, forming the visual focal point of the composition.

The artwork measures 52 × 77 cm. The composition underwent numerous revisions and redrawings, from initially incorporating Indigenous motifs to later adjusting proportions. The greatest challenge was how to depict the presence of air using only black and white, and how to position the “vanishing animals” so they appear both striking and natural on the page. The designer first sketched multiple drafts to determine the visual hierarchy of city, forest, and river, then refined each section with fine pens. Every group of textures had to remain non-repetitive to allow the forest to truly “breathe.”

Viewers most frequently respond with feelings of “being reminded” or “being moved.” Some begin to reflect on how their own behavior, discarded trash, daily transportation choices, unseen carbon emissions, affects the planet. The designer hopes that the relationship between humans and nature is not a matter of choosing one or the other, but of rediscovering coexistence.

Though the theme is heavy, the animals rendered in white also symbolize hope that has not yet disappeared. As long as people are willing to adjust their actions and allow forests and cities to share sunlight, air, and water, sustainability will no longer remain a distant ideal.