In Memoriam: Such Precious Relics

In Memoriam: Such Precious Relics
8" x 8"
2020
Acrylic paint, beeswax, graphite, collage

Time travel with me for a moment in your mind. ​Imagine a future where we continue on our current trajectory of environmental destruction. Mass species extinction has come to pass. As the human race wakes up to the resulting calamity, we feel regret for what could have been. Regret is a process of looking back into the past and wishing you had made different choices.

The ​In Memoriam series of works examines the future regret of the human race. These pieces are an elegy for what was lost. All that remains of the diminishing species of the world is human memory. That memory is represented by naturalist drawings. The naturalist style recalls historical records, taxonomy, and a yearning for understanding the world. The title is a section of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, “In Memoriam”, which depicts the poet’s grief at the loss of his friend. In the poem Tennyson also reflects on the ever changing quality of the natural environment. This series memorializes this epochal shift we are witnessing.

I am also exploring the tension between control and lack of control by juxtaposing the precise drawings with the erratic texture of the wax and paint. The concept of control relates to the tension between human actions and the state of the natural world.

These three pieces show three microscopic organisms that are often forgotten but are an essential part of the web of life on Earth.