Evolution

Evolution was the first painting completed for SMArt. It was created during a 24 hour painting event held at Walkerville Highschool while Lauren was still a highschool student. The piece was prompted by the word "change", and being keen to incorporate science into her art projects, Lauren decided to paint a piece inspired by evolution via natural selection. Scattered around the painting are elements that relate back to the Father of Evolution himself Charles Darwin, whether that be Galapagos finches, sometimes called Darwin's finches, or the year 1859 which is when Darwin published his famous "On the Origin of Species." The painting plays homage to the beginning of our understanding of how live has evolved on Earth, but also incorporates later discoveries like DNA represented as condensed chromosomes. The chromosomes are displayed in a way that compares them to a barcode, hinting at their ability to encode information in a way that is completely unique to the individual. The painting is meant to represent how our understanding of evolution came to be, and also get people thinking about where we are going in the future.