Acrylic, spray paint, fishing wire and plastic on cradled wooden panel, 60x60cm. Contact us at info@louisemcnaught.com for purchase enquiries.
Nevermind the Turtles reimagines a familiar cultural image through an ecological lens. Drawing from the visual language of the iconic Nevermind album cover, the painting replaces the human infant with an endangered green sea turtle, suspended in a vast field of luminous blue. Where the original image depicted a baby swimming after money, this work substitutes a credit card trailing on a fishing line — a contemporary symbol of consumerism, convenience, and the invisible systems driving environmental collapse.
The turtle, rendered with tenderness and quiet realism, becomes both innocent and imperilled. Its instinctive pursuit echoes the natural behaviours that now place marine life in direct conflict with human waste, plastics, and economic excess. The circular format suggests a closed system — an ocean with no edges, where the consequences of consumption inevitably return. Bubbles and drifting debris hover in the water like silent witnesses, underscoring the tension between beauty and threat.
By subverting a globally recognisable image, Nevermind the Turtles invites reflection on what we chase, what we discard, and who ultimately pays the price. The title carries an intentional irony: a refusal to “nevermind” the damage being done, and a call to confront the fragile futures of the creatures who share our planet’s waters.