Environmental Impacts
This painting portrays an Arctic tern with a broken wing: a graceful bird whose injury interrupts the very movement that defines its life. Recognizable by its red bill and feet and elegant, elongated tail, the tern is often associated with distance, flight, and return. Yet here, deliberately placed at the bottom of the canvas, the image speaks of fragility, survival, and loss.
Arctic terns breed across Canada, from Atlantic coastal regions to the High Arctic, inhabiting marine shorelines and inland tundra lakes. Their annual arrival has a deep cultural importance for the Nunavik Inuit of northern Quebec, where terns are connected to seasonal knowledge, food and egg gathering, community well-being, and the renewal of life after winter. Their presence can also signal changing weather and the return of other wildlife.
The Arctic Tern are facing serious threats. Nesting habitats are threatened by erosion of low-lying areas, rising sea levels, and increasing frequency and intensity of storms due to climate change. Also, predators have a large impact on the nesting of Arctic Terns.
The operation of offshore wind turbines, which are poised to proliferate in the Northeast, cause mortality from collisions during migration resulting in damaged wings intruding on their ability to fly which is their main source of freedom and survival.
The work reflects on our shared responsibility to protect and respect the habitats, migration routes and cultural impact that sustain this remarkable bird.