A New World

Another one of the pieces I made for the new History of Life exhibition in Kuopio Museum, Eastern Finland. I don't think this made it into the final exhibition, but it was nevertheless fun to do. The landscape and colours are heavily inspired by Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

This is the very earliest Paleogene, perhaps some hundred years after the Chicxulub Impact. Huge, ancient redwood trees were charred by the wildfires and felled by violent storms, but they are not dead. New growth sprouts straight through their bark, while the ground is covered by pioneering ferns. Plants are fairly immune to extinction events. They are much harder to kill than animals.

A small mammal, ash grey because it has been the best camouflage for some hundreds of generations, is now cautiously looking over a brand new world. It might just be one of the direct ancestors you and me.