Eleanor Buffam

Cyanotype, acrylic, and embroidery on canvas, 36cm x 31cm framed (31cm x 26cm unframed).

I made this piece (and several similar pieces) in reaction to Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement earlier this year, in which she proposed to cut the money that disabled people need to survive rather than tax the rich. As I am disabled myself, and many of my friends are disabled, this issue is personal.

In my view, inequality is the single biggest driver of the permacrisis. Money in politics has led to lobbying against policies that would help the majority of the population. The richest 10% are responsible for half of global emissions. Houses being seen as investments rather than homes has led to a runaway property market which means that millions of people do not have a secure place to live. Water companies are diverting profits to shareholders rather than fixing infrastructure… and the list goes on.

Dandelions, for me, are highly symbolic. They are good for us, good for the soil, beautiful flowers, and yet they’re treated as the enemy by those who like their gardens sterile and manicured. Dandelions don’t give up though, they bloom through the cracks. They’re survivors. And they’re everywhere. Dandelions are like us, the people. The disabled, the struggling, the downtrodden, and all of us who feel that sacrificing the planet and its lifeforms is never justified in the race to increase profits. We persist despite the odds, and there are more of us than there are billionaires.