In his work Churning Seas (2023), artist Jingchao Yang investigates the impact of climate change on one of the most critical and delicate ecosystems on our planet: the sea. Yang engages with this theme by focusing on three critical problems: waste pollution, melting glaciers, and coral bleaching. He forces the viewer to confront the effects of climate change on the sea by bringing them face to face with far-flung environments, often out of sight and out of mind. Yang amplifies contemporary environmental concerns into speculative futures, transforming familiar climate narratives into striking visual warnings. Connected by the recurring motif of a paper boat, these three environments demonstrate the extent to which human activity is damaging marine ecosystems.


Still Image from Churning Seas, 2025, 0:34, image courtesy of the artist

The work opens on a tropical sea with a small island that has become densely populated with human waste. Metal, wood, plastic and old fishing equipment are strewn across the rocky surface, and the viewer's gaze is obstructed by a cloud of flies buzzing over the rubbish. Here, humanity has left its mark without ever once stepping foot on the island. There is a noticeable lack of wildlife in this scene, though some small shrubs manage to break through, perhaps indicating that this island is not a lost cause. The paper boat, which becomes familiar to the viewer as they watch, bobs in a small cove, a deceptively simple image that effectively links humanity's waste to the wider ecological damage depicted throughout the work.


Still Image from Churning Seas, 2025, 2:21, image courtesy of the artist

The scene then shifts to colder seas, with large icebergs and glaciers. There is no direct visual indication of humanity’s presence in this scene, but its impact is felt as the glacier’s side splits and falls, creating a current that drags the paper boat beneath the waves. As the paper boat comes to represent humanity itself, the sequence highlights the fragile relationship between human survival and glacier health. Yang illustrates that as the world heats, glaciers melt and sea levels rise, humanity, like the paper boat, may sink.


Still Image from Churning Seas, 2025, 3:40, image courtesy of the artist

In the final and most compelling sequence, Yang presents a dual commentary - exploring coral bleaching and the effects of rising sea levels. Following the paper boat as it sinks, the viewer is presented with a city that has been dragged down to the bottom of the sea. This city has been melded with a coral reef, with coral structures and housing complexes existing side by side, fish swimming between them. Coral reefs are among the most delicate environments on Earth. As the water temperatures rise, the corals bleach - often leading to death. Without live corals, the whole ecosystem eventually dies out. However, in Yang’s dystopian world, nature appears to have reclaimed what humanity has lost; the man-made buildings have been claimed by the reef, suggesting a possible future if climate change is not tackled effectively. The paper boat then finally rests at the bottom of the sea, a further allegory for the possible future of civilisation: sunk. This is an extremely effective ending to the piece, centering human vulnerability to strike the viewer with the fact that all ecosystems are connected, and that disrupting these natural ecosystems may have devastating consequences.


Still image from Churning Seas, 2025, 4:22, image courtesy of the artist.

Beyond its visual engagement with environmental issues, Yang uses his medium and the tools that surround his artistic process as part of his active exploration of climate change. By using satellite data, field recordings and simulated imagery as elements within a wider digital video artwork, Yang demonstrates how deeply intertwined technology and the health of our planet have become, both negatively and positively. Through this combination, Yang bridges the gap between documentation and speculation, making the consequences of human activity tangible. Like contemporary nature documentaries, the work balances wonder with warning, inviting viewers to admire these environments while simultaneously confronting their vulnerability. Through its visual language and symbolic messaging, Churning Seas succeeds both as a warning about environmental collapse and as a meditation on humanity's increasingly fragile place within the ecosystems it has transformed.