This artwork was featured in the artist's 2024 solo exhibition, Living Ghosts: Above and Below the Waves, held at the Salamanca Arts Centre in Hobart, Tasmania. The exhibition focused on Tasmania's threatened and endangered marine species, highlighting the urgent need for conservation to prevent their disappearance.
The piece depicts the Maugean skate (Zearaja maugeana), which is classified as Endangered both in Tasmania and globally by the IUCN.
There are fewer than 1,000 Maugean Skates living in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, the only place in the world where it believed to still exist. Numbers of the Maugean Skate are disappearing due to low oxygen levels, poor water quality and small breeding population.
Conservation efforts include a variety of methods to improve oxygen levels in Macquarie harbour, captive breeding programs and strategies to prevent accidental bycatch of Maugean skates.
Created using mixed media (paper and acrylic) on recycled board. The artwork is framed in a recycled timber laminate frame, and is ready to hang.
In support of conservation efforts to protect Tasmania’s endangered marine life, 25% of the proceeds from this piece will be donated to the Australian Marine Conservation Society.