2010-present
My recent work combines a painting genre from the past with a progressive message. Inspired by the Dutch still life paintings of the early 17th century, my work attempts to create a dialogue concerning the value of nature.
A metal plate of oysters, a candle holder, a goblet, and a human skull are examples of items found in a Dutch Still life painting from the early 17th century. The first three objects express to the viewer the wealth and success of the region and the forth a reminder of mortality. In my work the objects are replaced with items from nature. These plants, animals and insect are made special by their placement on a draped pale silk cloth set on a table just as artists Claesz and Heda did in their pieces. For example, the human skull is replaced by an endangered or threatened animal skull. This analogy not only suggests a sense
of value, but also reminds the viewer of the fragility of the animal’s existence.
2007-2009
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
- Mahatma Gandhi
As the human race rapidly expands toward the seven billion mark, our wild places and wild creatures decrease just as rapidly in response. Today, one in four species of mammals and one in three species of reptiles and amphibians are classified as endangered. Countless others are listed as threatened. Because these creatures are so often located in regions that many of us will never visit, it can be hard to understand the effect their absence will have on our existence. For a time, there may be no percievable change.
Humans are part of a fragile and ever-changing ecosystem. Like bricks in a wall, as each species vanishes, a hole is left in its place and the wall moves toward inevitable collapse. As we continue to compete with other beings for finite wilderness and resources, and win, our actions and presence take a greater and greater toll. Species are disappearing, being replaced by cattle and other livestock, or nothing at all. Their bones and skin decorate our walls, our bodies, our tables, even as their living presence has been extinguished.
In the work, the image of the animal is painted representational; the paint is the unspoiled, untouched animal. Through the contact of the brush, and the solvents, the image is broken down, eaten away, moving toward invietable collapse. The paint, the physical substance that makes up the animal, is being diluted and thinned. It becomes transparent and fragile. What lies beneath is broken, burnt, fragmented or completely absent of form. There is simply nothing left.
Nothingness is uncomfortable for humans. When we find something broken, our minds want us to fix it because we know how it is meant to be. Whether our reasons are ethical, scientific, economic, or born of the most basic instincts, we want to see the object whole and restored. We desire closure.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
- Mahatma Gandhi
As the human race rapidly expands toward the seven billion mark, our wild places and wild creatures decrease just as rapidly in response. Today, one in four species of mammals and one in three species of reptiles and amphibians are classified as endangered. Countless others are listed as threatened. Because these creatures are so often located in regions that many of us will never visit, it can be hard to understand the effect their absence will have on our existence. For a time, there may be no percievable change.
Humans are part of a fragile and ever-changing ecosystem. Like bricks in a wall, as each species vanishes, a hole is left in its place and the wall moves toward inevitable collapse. As we continue to compete with other beings for finite wilderness and resources, and win, our actions and presence take a greater and greater toll. Species are disappearing, being replaced by cattle and other livestock, or nothing at all. Their bones and skin decorate our walls, our bodies, our tables, even as their living presence has been extinguished.
In the work, the image of the animal is painted representational; the paint is the unspoiled, untouched animal. Through the contact of the brush, and the solvents, the image is broken down, eaten away, moving toward invietable collapse. The paint, the physical substance that makes up the animal, is being diluted and thinned. It becomes transparent and fragile. What lies beneath is broken, burnt, fragmented or completely absent of form. There is simply nothing left.
Nothingness is uncomfortable for humans. When we find something broken, our minds want us to fix it because we know how it is meant to be. Whether our reasons are ethical, scientific, economic, or born of the most basic instincts, we want to see the object whole and restored. We desire closure.
