COmplexity
In this series I continuing to focus on endangered species but I'm examining the issue in a different way. My series, "At Risk" focuses on the unique qualities of each species and aims to allow the viewer to establish a personal connection, this series however, aims to provide a larger view into not only the species, but the issues they face. These works are created by layering two sheets of mylar; the bottom layer is a portrait of an endangered species and the top layer is a symbol which represents one of the many issues causing that specie's population decline. The first work, Akohekohe, for example, is overlaid with a line drawing of a mosquito. One of the causes for the Akohekohe's population decline is infection from disease-carrying mosquitos who now live in the same altitudes as the Akohekohe due to global warming. The overlaying of the mylar sheets makes it more difficult to see the portrait beneath and I created these works with that intention to speak to the fact that these species are increasingly hard to see due to the issues causing their population decline. Each of these works represents a significant amount of research and I hope that these works allow the viewer to understand some of the complexity surrounding endangered species.
Akohekohe
2015
12 X 18"
Mylar, acrylic paint, graphite, permanent marker
2015
12 X 18"
Mylar, acrylic paint, graphite, permanent marker
Right Whale
2015
12 X 18"
Mylar, acrylic paint, graphite, permanent marker
2015
12 X 18"
Mylar, acrylic paint, graphite, permanent marker
Orangutan
2015
12 X 18"
Mylar, acrylic paint, graphite, permanent marker
2015
12 X 18"
Mylar, acrylic paint, graphite, permanent marker
Humphead Wrasse
2015
12 X 18"
Mylar, acrylic paint, graphite, permanent marker
2015
12 X 18"
Mylar, acrylic paint, graphite, permanent marker
Red Panda
2015
12 X 18"
Mylar, acrylic paint, permanent marker
2015
12 X 18"
Mylar, acrylic paint, permanent marker
At risk
My latest series of paintings, "At Risk" consists of portraits of critically endangered and endangered animal species from around the world. In this series I wanted the viewer to focus on the beauty and individuality of each species which without intervention will soon cease to exist. Each of these species is endangered at least in part due to human impact on their natural environment. By creating dramatic individual portraits I hope that the viewer is able to engage with each image on a personal level causing each person to think about how they might be able to change the course of these species continued existence.
Elk Horn Coral
2015
11 X 14"
Oil on board
2015
11 X 14"
Oil on board
Green Sea Turtle
2015
11 X 14"
Oil on board
2015
11 X 14"
Oil on board
American Pika
2015
11 X 14"
Oil on board
2015
11 X 14"
Oil on board
Apollo Butterfly
2015
11 X 14"
Oil on board
2015
11 X 14"
Oil on board
Orange Spotted Filefish
2015
11 X 14"
Oil on board
2015
11 X 14"
Oil on board
Canadian Lynx
2015
11 X 14"
Oil on board
2015
11 X 14"
Oil on board
Reticulated Flatwoods Salamander
2015
11 X 14"
Oil on board
2015
11 X 14"
Oil on board
lost arctic
This painting is where I first began to talk about a subject, about which I am very passionate, the increasing large number of endangered species and our involvement as human beings. To begin I started in an environment where a large number of species are endangered, the arctic. For me there is a ridiculous and unreal aspect to the very idea that large numbers of species are disappearing as a direct result of the actions of human beings and yet we are slow to change our negative impacts. I took that idea and I applied the unreal nature of the subject to the painting. In the painting I depicted various endangered arctic species, including polar bears, caribou, plovers, arctic foxes, arctic hares and bison, and I placed them in a desert environment. For me there is some unfortunate reality to this work, just as these species can not survive in a desert they can't survive if their arctic home disappears.
Impossible
2014
40 X 30"
Oil on stretched canvas
2014
40 X 30"
Oil on stretched canvas
a small world
This work is about how very distant and unknown aspects of our world can in some ways be very alike. For this piece I examined how visually the night sky, with its black backdrop and small glowing spots is very similar to the bottom of the ocean where all light vanishes with the exception of small glowing species. In this work I wanted to try to combine both visions, the dark backdrop with swirling gases of the night and the small glowing creatures found deep below the surface of the sea.
Distances Between
2014
36 X 36"
Oil on stretched canvas (high gloss finish)
2014
36 X 36"
Oil on stretched canvas (high gloss finish)
bigger is better ... ?
A collection of my largest paintings.
Dancing flames
2012
5 X 4'
Oil on board
2012
5 X 4'
Oil on board
Drown
2014
3 X 4'
Oil on board
In this piece I challenged myself to create a painting that was about me and how I was feeling at the time. When I created this work I was at the end of a long semester and I was struggling to keep up with final projects, finances, exhaustion and not enough time. Examining my emotions led me to the association of drowning and so I created a piece in which I tried to capture the feeling of drowning under the pressure of my personal obligations at the time.
2014
3 X 4'
Oil on board
In this piece I challenged myself to create a painting that was about me and how I was feeling at the time. When I created this work I was at the end of a long semester and I was struggling to keep up with final projects, finances, exhaustion and not enough time. Examining my emotions led me to the association of drowning and so I created a piece in which I tried to capture the feeling of drowning under the pressure of my personal obligations at the time.
Drown 2 Unfinished
3 X 4'
Oil on board
Another attempt at the same concept. In this work I wanted to portray the same ideas as "Drown" but in a new way. I left this work unfinished because I like the way it feels as though it was done quickly, with the impression of all the forms without all the detail. For me this unfinished feeling is an interesting contradiction to the feeling being portrayed on the model's face.
3 X 4'
Oil on board
Another attempt at the same concept. In this work I wanted to portray the same ideas as "Drown" but in a new way. I left this work unfinished because I like the way it feels as though it was done quickly, with the impression of all the forms without all the detail. For me this unfinished feeling is an interesting contradiction to the feeling being portrayed on the model's face.
utilization
In this work I wanted to examine the relationship we have with our natural resources. Each image depicts a natural resource which we harvest and manipulate for use. Some resources I examined are water, cattle and cotton. I then researched processes which we use to understand and convert the raw resource into something useable and I overlaid each image with a diagram of its accompanying process. For example, the diagram overlaid on the cow was developed by Dr. Temple Grandin, to take cattle to slaughter and the diagram overlaid on the chicken is a chart to prevent inbreeding. I wanted the viewer to be able to see both resource and process and the way in which we take these resources and break them down to be able to use them.
Utilize
2014
34 X 28"
Frosted mylar paper, acrylic paint, graphite, pen, permanent marker
2014
34 X 28"
Frosted mylar paper, acrylic paint, graphite, pen, permanent marker
Utilize Detail (chicken)
2014 8 X 11" Frosted mylar paper, acrylic paint, graphite, pen, permanent marker Utilize Detail (cow)
2014 8 X 11" Frosted mylar paper, acrylic paint, graphite, pen, permanent marker |
Utilize Detail (cotton)
2014 8 X 11" Frosted mylar paper, acrylic paint, graphite, pen, permanent marker Utilize Detail (wheat)
2014 8 X 11" Frosted mylar paper, acrylic paint, graphite, pen, permanent marker |
Human
The subject of this work is the human body. In this piece I worked to gain a better understanding of the human form, how to translate it into a two-dimensional image, how to work from direct observation of the figure and how to capture light moving through the scene.
Unfinished Portrait
2014
22 X 14"
Oil on stretched canvas
2014
22 X 14"
Oil on stretched canvas
Still Life Studies
Below are a few small still life studies in which my goal was to further develop my technical ability while considering ideas like composition, color and light.
Untitled no. 1
2012 8 X 10" Acrylic on canvas board |
Strawberry Study no. 2
2012 8 X 10" Acrylic on canvas board |
light
The subject of this work is light. I have always been fascinated by the way light manipulates our perceptions; the same object in a different light can cause us to have varying emotional reactions; like a child's eye sees a tree branch outside the window at night. The way in which we see our world is not just objects but light. In this work I wanted to try to capture two different kinds and sources of light in the same frame. For this work I photographed a scene I set up with a lamp and cloth then I printed that photograph, framed it and set up another still life with the framed photograph, drapery and a light source. My hope is that the viewer can see and appreciate how one light is a warm glow radiating from under the cloth and the second light is a white sheen that bounces on the corner of the frame and the drapery.
Traveling Light
2013
28 X 32"
Acrylic on stretched canvas
2013
28 X 32"
Acrylic on stretched canvas
abstraction
In "Distorting" I wanted to loosely paint a familiar scene from my memory, the sun setting on the ocean, and then break up that image into lines and color. For me, this work talks about the transition of time in our own minds; while memories remain they distort over time.
Detail
Island things
These four paintings were created as part of a small body of work that I submitted to the University of Cambridge as a part of my AS level exams in 2010. This body of work encompasses a number of finished paintings as well as a preliminary work. Each work is a study of fauna found around my island home of Grand Cayman. In this body of work I wanted to examine these species which have cultural significance and depict the daily sights of my home.
Ackee
2010
Acrylic on watercolor paper
2010
Acrylic on watercolor paper
Bird of Paradise
2010
11 3/4 X 9 1/4"
Acrylic on watercolor paper
2010
11 3/4 X 9 1/4"
Acrylic on watercolor paper