As the world’s largest open submission art show, The Royal Academy of Art's summer exhibition brings together art in all mediums by leading artists, Royal Academicians and household names as well as new and emerging talent. Run without interruption since 1769, the exhibition now attracts close to 900,000 visitors, and is an annual highlight of the London arts scene.

This year, I have opted to submit 2 sculptures with an environmental theme for consideration. The first work I have submitted '2050' (2050 is the yardstick used by scientists and environmentalists to estimate potential impact scenarios illustrates what our planet may become if we continue on the path we are currently on without making radical lifestyle changes. Extreme weather patterns of droughts and flooding are the norm; more than 90% of Earth's land is degraded; and, plastic pollution in our oceans outweighs fish.

The second work 'Save our seas' represents how we are serving up not only an environmental and health disaster on our plates, but for the ecosystems that inhabit our seas and oceans. Plastic debris when consumed by marine animals, endanger both the creatures that ingest them, their predators and higher up the food chain, humans.

More than 80 percent of marine pollution comes from land-based human activities. From coral bleaching to sea level rise, entire marine ecosystems are rapidly changing. Global warming; agricultural pesticides and nutrients run-off; factories and industrial plants discharges; oil spills; air pollution; invasive species disrupting the ecological balance; overfishing; and, plastic pollution are all threatening the health of our oceans.


You can read more about both these works in my Environmental Issues gallery.


What happens next?
On 1 July, the first round of selection is made from digital images of around 16,500 artworks. The judges have shortlisted the entries to be delivered to the Academy for the final round of judging, before the exhibition opens on Wednesday 22 September


Now, the wait begins ...