In Memoriam Paintings

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.


In Memoriam: The Dusk of Thee (Humpback Whale)
Acrylic paint, beeswax, graphite, watercolor paper on board
May 2020
17" x 15.5"





In Memoriam: In Expectation (Moose)
Acrylic paint, beeswax, graphite, watercolor paper on board
July 2020
16" x 3"




In Memoriam: Upon the Threshold (Bunny)
Acrylic paint, beeswax, graphite, watercolor paper on board
July 2020
5.5" x 10.5"




In Memoriam: Spread Thy Full Wings (Bat)
Acrylic paint, beeswax, graphite, watercolor paper on board
July 2020
3.5" x 10"

Townsend's Big Eared Bat



In Memoriam: Beat with Rain and Wind (Pigeon)
Acrylic paint, beeswax, graphite, watercolor paper on board
July 2020
4" x 5"









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





In Memoriam: The world which credits what is done is cold to all that might have been
Acrylic paint, beeswax, graphite, collage on board
2020
12" x 7 3/4"



In Memoriam: The hills are shadows, and they flow, From form to form, and nothing stands
Acrylic paint, beeswax, graphite, collage on board
2020
16" x 9" for each painting




In Memoriam: And every winter change to spring
Acrylic paint, beeswax, graphite, collage on board
2020
12" x 7 3/4"




African Wagtail
Acrylic paint, beeswax, graphite, collage on board
2020
3" x 4"




The following pieces are were precursors to the "In Memoriam" body of work.


White Rhino 
watercolor and graphite 
2018
36" x 48"



Woodland Caribou 
acrylic paint, beeswax, paper, fabric
2018
36" x 48"



Fragility
Acrylic paint, beeswax, graphite, collage on board
2017
18" x 24"