“The girl at the centre of this piece is both a figure who could represent any real or mythologised character who has lived and worked on the land at any point in history. Like many inspiring young women I come across today, she is a figurehead for change - defiant in her nature and leading towards a better and more hopeful future.

In the background, the homogenised, grey urban areas, in which the majority of the world’s population sadly now live in, present a contrast with the lush and more natural landscapes around the central figure. At her feet are shoots of wheat, a common symbol of power linked to the land, renewal and growth in historic mythologies - such as the goddess Demeter (of harvest and agriculture) from the Greek Pantheon, who is depicted with grains growing around her.

I wanted to depict where we have come from in recent post-industrial history, and where we want to be going: back towards a greener and more wild planet. I feel the “old” and the “new” are often pitted against each other, usually to further egotistical political agendas. In reality, as the Humusphere theme encourages, you cannot have one without the other; the old is needed to gently break down, fertilise, and grow the new; and the new is needed because nothing natural can remain in stasis forever.”