Title:

“Half-Life of a Warming World”

Price : £ 600

Description:

Half-Life of a Warming World is an original mixed-media portrait by contemporary artist Laura Bernardeschi Nelson, created using oil pastels, coloured pencils, and markers on heavy art paper. The surface has been professionally varnished to protect the pigments and enhance colour depth. The work is signed on both the front and the back, confirming authenticity, and comes framed (45 × 35 cm, ready to hang).

This striking composition is divided vertically into two halves, portraying the same figure in two different states. On the left, the face is youthful: smooth skin, warm orange hair, and vivid green eyes set against a lush green background. On the right, the face shows the passage of time: lines, texture, pale grey hair, and a background that shifts into earthy browns and burnt tones. This duality creates an immediate emotional impact, representing the intersection of human aging and environmental decline.

Bernardeschi Nelson uses vibrant colour transitions and contrasting textures to draw a parallel between the natural aging of the human body and the “aging” of our overheated planet. The fresh greens fade to dry browns; vitality gives way to fragility. Through this mirrored portrait, the artist suggests that climate change is not an abstract phenomenon but a process unfolding in real time—much like the subtle, then unmistakable marks that time leaves on the human face.

Half-Life of a Warming World is a contemplative, symbolic, and visually compelling artwork. It invites viewers to confront the shared vulnerability of both humanity and nature, and to reflect on the urgent need to preserve what is still vibrant before it becomes irreversibly aged.

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Characteristics:

Conceptual Elements: Duality, passage of time, environmental transition, emotional symbolism

Artist: Laura Bernardeschi Nelson

Title: Half-Life of a Warming World

Technique / Medium: Oil pastels, coloured pencils, and markers (mixed media) on paper

Surface: Heavy art paper, varnished

Dimensions (framed): 45 × 35 cm

Orientation: Vertical portrait

Style: Contemporary, figurative, symbolic

Theme: Aging, climate change, environmental awareness, human condition

Signature: Signed on the front and on the back

Condition: New, varnished, protected surface

Framing: Sold framed, ready to hang

Colours: Greens, blues, oranges, greys, earth tones