Tanya Poole, The Whispering Spring

wasteland, its air fouled by chemical emissions,
its rivers polluted by industrial waste” and run-off
from the two coal -fired electric plants situated
on either side of it.
In the first chapter of ‘The Silent Spring’, Carson
tells a fictitious short story about a small
American town that boasted rich farms that
yielded huge numbers of crops. One day a strange
“sickness” began to spread across the town. The
sheep and cows died from illness and ceased to
make any sounds. The apple trees blossomed
but there was no sound of the insects or birds
that are needed to pollinate them. The town was
now silent in spring because human beings have
poisoned it through the misuse of chemicals in
their farming. A few pages later Carson makes a
grim but true statement:
“Along with the possibility of the extinction
of mankind by nuclear war, the central
problem of our age has therefore become
the contamination of man’s total
environment with such substances of
incredible potential for harm — substances
that accumulate in the tissues of plants
and animals and even penetrate the germ
cells to shatter or alter the very material of
heredity upon which the shape of the future
depends” (Carson 2002 (1962): 8).
Two years after the book was published, Carson
died of breast cancer. ‘The Whispering Spring’ by
Tanya Poole pays homage to Rachel Carson and
the other seven female scientists depicted in the
exhibition who are working in line with Carson’s
legacy and philosophy towards the environment.
Poole shares their views and the scientists have
served far more significant roles besides allowing
her to paint their portraits. Carson was never
awarded a PhD in environmental science. She
came from a background of writing and working