Our precious planet, a fragile butterfly in space. Countless motley facets, an ever-changing kaleidoscope.

Our personal life stories, itineraries meandering through moments and places. How do we blend our voices together beautifully? How do we translate the sounds of winds and waves, birds and trees, humming insects, the singing fishes in the deep? And the animal screams from the slaughterhouses?

Here, some recent ‘work in progress’; watercolour renderings of the octants that together constitute the Waterman butterfly map projection.

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Eight watercolour paintings, each 18×26 cms; Helena Hildur W. (2024)

Suddenly, I remember Ukrainian artist Alexander Krolikowski, who taps the signals of passing satellites to portray the Earth’s surface… “When you love someone, you take pictures of them, right?”

Yes – in times of war, we do love’s labour.

Screenshot from short documentary Art in the Land of War, episode 7: Alexander Krolikowski by DocNoteFilms (2022)