ARE WE GOING TO PUT OUR
CHILDREN AT RISK?
1:This installation is a cry, a cradle, and a confrontation. It invites you to witness what we have built and what we have broken. The car seat, once a symbol of safety, is now overgrown with moss. Nature reclaims. But at what cost?
I act because silence is complicity. We must not overlook the importance of beauty. Because our children deserve more than our regrets. This is not nostalgia; it is a warning wrapped in tenderness. A call to awaken before innocence.
becomes memory.
Cette installation est un cri, un berceau, une confrontation. Elle vous invite à contempler ce que nous avons construit et détruit. "Le siège d'enfant", jadis symbole de sécurité, est maintenant envahi par la mousse. La nature se réapproprie son espace. Mais à quel prix ?
L'action est nécessaire, car le silence constitue une complicité. Parce que la beauté ne doit pas être aveugle. Parce que nos enfants méritent plus que nos regrets. Ce n'est pas de la nostalgie, c'est un avertissement enveloppé de tendresse. Un appel à s'éveiller avant que l'innocence ne devienne un souvenir.
Shutterfly booklet of 21 pages, made August 2025
2 : Réflexions /
Mirrors lie beneath your feet. They do not distort, they reveal. You are part of this scene. You are part of this future.
Des miroirs reposent sous vos pas. Ils ne déforment pas, ils dévoilent. Vous faites partie de cette scène. Vous faites partie de cet avenir.
3:Memory of Trees / Mémoire des arbres
The painted trees are not alive. They are echoes. Fossils. We remember forests as if they were dreams. But they were real. And they are vanishing.
Les arbres peints ne sont pas vivants. Ce sont des échos. Des fossiles. Nous nous souvenons des forêts comme de rêves. Mais elles étaient réelles. Elles disparaissent.
4:Soundscape / Paysage sonore
Children laugh. Their joy fills the air. But it is a recording. A memory. Will their laughter survive the silence we are creating?
Les enfants rient. Leur joie emplit l'espace. Mais, c'est un enregistrement. Un souvenir. Leur rire survivra-t-il au silence que nous créons ?
5: SOS / Appel
The neon sign glows: SOS. It is not decoration. It is a declaration. We are calling for help. But are we listening ?
L'enseigne néon brille : SOS. Ce n'est pas une décoration. C'est une déclaration. Nous appelons à l'aide. Mais écoutons-nous ?
6 : The Threshold / Le seuil
The treshold is not the end. It is the beginning. From stardust we came. To Stardust we may return. But between those stars, we must choose : protéger. To awaken. To act.
Le seuil n'est pas la fin. C'est le commencement. Nous sommes nés de la poussière d'étoiles. Nous pourrions y retourner. Mais, entre ces étoiles, nous devons choisir : Protéger. Éveiller. Agir.
The car seat covered in moss symbolizes the innocence and vulnerability that nature has overtaken. It wanted to evoke the image of a child left behind in a world where the wild is reclaiming what human negligence has abandoned. The moss serves as both a cradle and a warning, representing life growing over what was once considered safe.
Mirrors on the Ground They reflect not just the installation but also the viewer. A confrontation: we are part of this scene. The mirrors become portals to alternate futures and the consequences of our choices.
Branches and Twigs The moss is scattered, resembling the remnants of a storm or the aftermath of a collapse. I want to suggest fragility, disruption, and the encroachment of nature on human constructs.
Abstract Tree Panels The preserved forests evoke ghostly, almost fossilized impressions, akin to recollections of once-living forests. A visual elegy.
Neon "SOS" Sign Stark is urgent and modern. It pierces the poetic quiet with a cry for help. The dual colors, red and blue, do suggest emergency and the polarity of action and apathy.
Soundscape of Children's Laughter
This is the most piercing element. It brings life, joy, and innocence, but in this context, it's heartbreaking. It's a memory, a ghost, a reminder of what's at stake.
The Swing
A symbol of play, suspended in time. It invites movement but remains still, like a future that could be joyful but is frozen by our inaction.
Interpretation & Emotional Resonance
Installation Inventory:
Dimensions: 51" L 21" H 26" W
Materials: Recycled car seat, acrylic paint
Symbolism: A visceral question embodied in a moss-covered child's car seat innocence, ecological peril, and societal neglect
Mixed Media Works
S-O-S
Dimensions: 36" x 48"
Materials: Mixed media on wood canvas, LED light
Features: Illuminated distress signal, technological urgency, emotional alarm
Two Large Paintings
Dimensions: 103" x 53" each
Materials: Ink, natural minerals, gold leaf, protective varnish
Themes: Earths sacredness, memory of landscapes, alchemical transformation
Floor Installation
Five Geometric Floor Pieces
Materials: Cardboard, aluminum mirror paper, fresh moss
Function: Reflective, organic, and fragile, evoking broken terrain and mirrored consciousness
Placement: Scattered across the floor, inviting viewers to navigate emotional and ecological terrain
Sculptural Additions
Three Fake Births
Concept: Artificial genesis, disrupted cycles, commentary on reproduction and future
Wooden Swing Covered with Moss
Materials: Wood, moss
Symbolism: Nostalgia, suspended innocence, nature reclaiming play
Optional Soundscape: Children's laughter (if included)
7: Artist Résumé / Parcours de l'artiste
Chantal Westby
Visual Artist Humanist Ecological Activist Poetic Mentor
Born in France and rooted in Philadelphia, Chantal Westby is a multidisciplinary artist whose work bridges visual storytelling, poetic reflection, and ecological urgency. Over 25 years, she has created more than 300 paintings and countless immersive installations, each a dialogue between nature, technology, and the human soul.
Her practice blends acrylic, sculpture, and projections from her travels around the world to capture beauty and rainforest sounds, along with text to awaken empathy and ecological reverence. She mentors emerging artists, designs bilingual booklets, and leads collaborative projects that invite public engagement and emotional transformation.
Chantal's recent shift from studio solitude to public action marks a new chapter. Her installations now speak directly to youth, to families, and to those who feel the weight of the climate crisis and the hope of collective awakening.
She believes art must not only reflect the world; it must reshape it.
Née en France, installée à Philadelphie, Chantal Westby est une artiste pluridisciplinaire qui relie narration visuelle, réflexion poétique, et urgence écologique. En plus de 25 ans de création, elle a réalisé plus de 300 peintures et de nombreuses installations immersives, chacune étant un dialogue entre nature, technology, et l'âme humaine.
Sa pratique mêle acrylique, sculpture, son, et texte pour éveiller l'empathie et la révérence écologique. Elle accompagne les jeunes artistes, conçoit des livrets bilingues, et dirige des projets collaboratifs qui invitent à l'engagement public et à la transformation émotionnelle.
Son passage récent de la solitude de l'atelier à l'action publique marque un nouveau chapitre. Ses installations s'adressent désormais aux jeunes, aux familles, à ceux qui ressentent le poids de la crise climatique, et à l'espoir d'un éveil collectif.
Elle croit que l'art ne doit pas seulement refléter le monde; il doit le transformer.