The Last Paladin

Back in 2011, I created an illustration featuring a solemn-looking polar bear cradling an inuksuk in the cloak of night as a metaphorical warning about the increasingly dark, ever-impending fragility of her own species (and our own) when it came to matters of climate change and environmental guardianship (you can find original here). I decided to revisit the concept with a daylight version so as to counter any figurative impression that such concerns are somehow avoidable or dismissible by way of one’s attributing them to dark science and/or inexplicable mystery. In this scenario, all potential shadows of doubt are removed and one is forced to confront their reflection in the eyes of our protagonist. There is simply no ignoring her—nor her cause—whatever the time of day.