INFERNO is a series by Leslie Hossack that combines art with scientific data to explore the real and urgent effects of climate change that threaten ecosystems and communities. This work highlights measurable and growing impacts on our planet: From nuclear apocalypse, wildfires, shrinking glaciers, rising sea levels and global temperatures.

Each piece serves as a visual record of environmental change rooted in scientific fact but expressed with an artistic sensibility. By showing these changes, Hossack invites reflection and conversation about the fragility of nature and the need for collective action.

INFERNO is both a warning and a call for awareness to urge viewers to face the scale of change around us and rethink our relationship with the environment. It acknowledges the undeniable reality of the climate crisis while offering hope for resilience and response.

The series explores themes of loss and shared memory, and a collective witness. It reflects on the fragility between human survival and disaster, using symbols like the Doomsday Clock to highlight growing global threats. It also reveals the hidden dangers of pollution, making the invisible visible and encouraging awareness of environmental harm behind striking colours.

Through these layered artworks, INFERNO asks viewers to confront the immediacy of environmental change and to consider the delicate balance between scientific facts and human experiences.

Leslie Hossack lives in Ottawa, making her home away from home in Vancouver. Leslie turned to photography and the visual arts as a second career. She has studied at The School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa and at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver. Leslie’s photographs have been exhibited across Canada from Vancouver to Newfoundland and in the United States. She has ten books to her credit, and her images have appeared in publications in Canada, the US, and the UK, including the National Gallery of Canada Magazine. Leslie’s work is held in private collections at home and abroad, and in public collections including: Library and Archives Canada; Canadian War Museum; Diefenbunker: Canada’s Cold War Museum; City of Vancouver; Nikkei National Museum, Burnaby; National Churchill Library and Center, Washington DC; Center for Creative Photography, Tucson AZ; Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge UK; and in the libraries of the Sigmund Freud Museum, Vienna; David Collection, Copenhagen; Hirschsprung Collection, Copenhagen; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto and National Gallery of Canada.