An Australian artist whose work was gifted to the US president Joe Biden by prime minister Anthony Albanese during a state visit says she is “a tad hysterical” after being surprised by seeing her own painting on the news.
Katherine Boland’s painting, Fire Flower No 8, was created as part of a 2018 series after a bushfire destroyed 70 homes in Tathra, New South Wales.
Boland, who lives in nearby Merimbula, was further affected a year later during the catastrophic black summer bushfires, after which she decided to use art to raise awareness of the climate crisis.
“I am feeling a bit insane actually. It’s wonderful. I didn’t expect to get this sort of reach in my wildest dreams,” she said on Thursday. “To think I’m in the White House – it’s just so bizarre.”
The painting gifted to Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Wednesday depicts the renewal of native flora after fires. Boland created the work by using fire to scorch the timber surface. She had no idea it had even been sold until her sister called to say she had seen her painting on the evening news.
She said she received a few queries from the Melbourne gallery where it had been held that could have tipped her off. “They were asking me a few questions about what sort of timber was it on, was it sealed – it was probably because it was subject to quarantine,” Boland said.
“But they didn’t tell me anything – maybe there was protocol; they probably knew I would have blabbed it all over social media,” she said laughing.
Boland won the $15,000 sustainability category at the National Capital art prize in Canberra last month, which she believes may have led the Australian government to select her work as the gift to the Bidens.
Albanese, a renowned music lover, was in turn gifted a custom-made turntable from the president and first lady.
Boland said she hoped the prime minister used her painting as an opportunity to speak to the US president about tackling the climate crisis.
“I’ve dedicated my entire art practice now to try to raise awareness about climate change,” she said.
“It’s estimated 3 billion animals perished in those [black summer] bushfires. We didn’t see blue sky for six weeks. It was absolutely horrendous. And it’s not going away.
“There was a Guardian article recently that said in 2100, 3 to 6 billion people may be unable to live in livable regions on Earth. But there’s not enough political will. That’s the problem. And Biden is still going ahead with mining in the Gulf of Mexico. I’m going to write to him – I have an in with the US government now,” she said, laughing.
