My installation ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ for NE8 2017 was inspired by an awareness shaped by 15 years of living on the island of Elbow Cay, Abaco. It sought to highlight the difference in lifestyles between tourists and locals and offer a space of contemplation for responsible and sustainable tourism and development.

On the morning of Sunday 1st of September, 2019, Hurricane Dorian made landfall in the Bahamas on Elbow Cay. It was the strongest known storm to hit the Northwestern Bahamas at 185mph sustained winds with gusts of over 220mph.

Throughout the aftermath of the storm itself and the clean up that followed, it was apparent that the former glimpse
of life presented by ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ no longer existed. It was obliterated into a precarious future. Many homes
that once provided accommodation for tourists eager to experience island life were damaged or destroyed, while the
ones still habitable became shelters for the survivors - some even during the storm as they fled their own homes that
blew apart around them.

There were no more fake plastic trees. There was only survival. Survival initially over the next few days and the need
for shelter, water, food and medical evacuations, then longer term survival of the community as a whole. The strength and resilience of the people of Elbow Cay was immediately apparent as thoughts quickly turned to the future and
rebuilding even as a literal mountain of debris was piled up to be removed from the island.

Response to our need was immediate and heart-warming. Donations and supplies flooded in from around the world as soon as they could be shipped and received. Thanks to @artforabaco and associated artists, murals with messages of hope and support adorned these shipping containers as they landed ashore and were a beacon of light in a cloud of uncertainty. During initial clean up a home was tagged with the words ‘Let Love Rule’, and more recently murals have been popping up on damaged buildings throughout Abaco.

This work intended to transform the commentary on indulgent consumption by stripping the cottage of all suggestions of it’s initial placement and adorning it with similarly motivating messages and murals. A monument to the artists,
relief workers, volunteers and anyone who donated time or money to help the people of The Bahamas. A reminder that responsible tourism and development with the necessary awareness of our environment suddenly became that much more poignant. A message of hope and positivity.

Showing us that home can have different meanings and be more than just brick or wood. Home can be a community, a state of mind, a way of thinking that endures. These artworks will remind us to keep this in mind as the next generation of Hope Town is rebuilt from these ashes.