The number of nickel mines in Indonesia has been rapidly increasing, along with the human-caused environmental impact that comes with it. Nickel from Sulawesi and Maluku provinces has been exported and used worldwide to manufacture electric vehicles, which are considered an eco-friendly option compared to fossil fuel vehicles. Yet, the pollution caused by nickel mining, such as Deep-Sea Tailings Disposal (DSTD), has been affecting the ecosystem and the livelihoods of the indigenous people. The fish are disappearing, the plants won’t grow, the water is muddy, their land is taken, and their skin is covered with itchy red spots. We are destroying our seas, lands, and future in the name of sustainability.

This installation artwork speculates on a future without any nickel left in the world, without clear water, and without land after deforestation and being mined to obliteration. But it is also a future in which, once again, nature flourishes and evolves to survive in an apocalyptic world.

2024
60 x 112 cm
Watercolor on Scrap Plywood Sculpture with projection mapping