My inspiration for this piece was Boschbrand (Forest Fire) by Raden Saleh in 1849.  This painting captures a fierce forest fire, highlighting nature's raw power and suggesting the impact of human actions on the environment. Saleh, an Indonesian artist, gained global recognition for blending European painting styles with his Javanese roots. He was born in 1811 in Semarang, Java (now Indonesia) and was of noble descent, the son of a Javanese aristocrat. He spent most of his life abroad, where he studied artistry and became one of the most prominent

Indonesian painters of the 19th century. The numbers I depicted in my painting show the amount of acres of land that were damaged in the 2020 Australian bushfires, where I am from. The blue stars also depict the Southern cross, a prominent part of Australian culture as well as being part of our flag. The colours in the background depict the trees that were burnt away by the fires, with the overwhelming red, oranges and browns with a small amount of muted green in the lower left-hand side of the painting.