Water is a vital resource for all known life on this planet. It covers 71 percent of the Earth's surface, and the human body is made up of anywhere from 55 to 78 percent water. Without it, we as a species could not survive.
West Virginia University visiting artist and University of New Mexico Professor Emerita Basia Irland understands its importance in our lives and aims to create awareness of our negative impact through her art.
We take advantage of our access to clean, potable water every time we turn the faucet handles. We need it for many other daily activities besides drinking.
According to the United Nations World Water Development Report sponsored by the World Water Assessment Programme, 884 million people in the world rely on unimproved sources for drinking water, and an estimated 2.4 billion people will remain without access to basic sanitation in 2015.
Americans are the third largest consumers of water by volume, but we don't always realize its importance.
We don't have to walk miles to transport three pounds per gallon of water per day just for basic necessities such as drinking and bathing.
Irland uses her interdisciplinary style of art to force people to think outside the box and open their minds to these issues.
She refers to her art as a type of performance art, as ephemeral projects with repository pieces to commemorate the events.
Her "Gathering of Waters" project involves communities along a river to collecting water in a canteen that is passed from person to person.
It requires communities to unite together and come face to face with the resource that we so often take for granted.
The communal effort is then logged in a book for remembrance of the event.
The WWDR also reported that almost one-tenth of global diseases could be mitigated by improving water supplies.
The Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that every year approximately 7 million Americans develop illnesses, occasionally fatal, from contaminated tap water.
The World Health Association states that a child dies every eight seconds from a water-related disease. Irland found herself faced with this issue while exploring her passion for water. During a project, Irland stood submerged in a river and contracted the water-borne disease Schistomiasis.
From this experience, she devoted her time to educating others on the importance of clean water. Her "Scrolls" project integrated painted pictures of the diseases on scrolls made from fabrics used to strain water in India or hospital bed sheets to emphasize the purpose of creating awareness.
Every detail of her projects has a purpose or symbolizes the importance and impact of the project as a whole.
Although Irland is from Colorado, her passion for water takes her across the globe and even brings her to places like Morgantown.
Her visit was more than a classroom lecture or a gallery showing. Her two week stay ended with an event Sunday.
With help from students, residents and the organization Friends of Deckers Creek, Irland performed a "Gathering of Waters" along the length of Deckers Creek.
This specific body of water, so close to home, has been affected by toxic materials draining from abandoned area coal mines.
According to Friends of Deckers Creek, these chemicals turn the water a red-orange color and increase the acidity of the water to the point that fish and other aquatic life are unable to survive.
From Africa to West Virginia, the water supply that we so desperately depend on daily is contaminated with pollutants harmful to all life forms.
In an attempt to educate people on an issue that affects us all, Irland uses her art in its many forms to create awareness. Her "Ice Books," "Water Harvesting" and "Hydrolibros" are other recent projects that bring light to the issues of water conservation and sanitation.
Her eye for beauty in all the Earth offers is evident in her use of completely natural materials.
Her art and her message are just as powerful and magnificent as her heart.
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