Shane Chick Portsmouth, New Hampshire USA
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'Closer to Home'
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Shane Chick
location: Portsmouth New Hampshire
Title: Closer to Home
PaperDim: 10 x 7.5
ImageDim: 10 x 7.5
Block: recycled birch plywood
Ink: Daniel Smith
Paper: Rives Heavyweight
Edition: 54Comment: I started to think about this print as the fuel prices started to rise and as I am daily reminded of the looming global warming crisis. These things in tandem have redefined what many people consider as travel or a voyage. We are should all be looking for ways to reduce our consumption and to leave the world to our children on an upswing instead of with the bleak forecast we have now. I am not a pessimistic person by nature but after having my first daughter last february all these things are getting more scary and real to me.
The subject of my print is an old beat up motor scooter that I pass as I walk to work everyday. Travel on a motor scooter is limited and one would be forced to stay closer to home and make due with what one has. You can't carry too many groceries or a big screen TV home on a scooter so not only do you have to redefine travel but consumption as well.
I recently read that if fuel reached $10 a gallon it would be a good thing for the environment and the economy. Of course we would go through a period of adjustment but over time it would act as a reset button for our wasteful and selfish ways. I am not a hardcore environmentalist by any means but everyday I feel the change creeping into my consciousness, I fell the need to change my own behaviors and paradigms. This shift has been and will continue to be a voyage in its self, I call this shift "Closer to Home"