"Elephants" oil on canvas 40x28in
I have been wanting to paint elephants for about two years.
But every time I started developing ideas, I hit a block. There is a massive amount of information, cultural and factual, about elephants that spans the spectrum from a completely anthropomorphized Dumbo to the ivory trade. And a lot of this information is strong, emotionally powerful, and deeply image related.
So, there's where the difficulty was. Elephants are such a loaded topic with such iconic imagery that there's hardly room beyond that. Then again, going too far beyond the imagery and conservation issues becomes dishonest and ignorant. This middle ground is where most of my art is and where my elephant painting came from.
Elephants are unique among threatened animal. The obvious difference is that they're huge land dwellers. So, unlike the Snow Leopard or the Golden Frog, being cryptic is not an option. Also, they don't have the dangerous mystique of other threatened animals like the Polar Bear. This, paired with their ability to live in captivity, makes them a trophy pet for parades, circuses and zoo's. Also, it allows scientists study them immensely to the point where we have a good understanding of their emotional habits, their social structures, and the way they live--all things that are super fashionable in popular science. And, after all of this knowledge, interaction, contact, popularization, they still get wiped out by the masses for ivory.
I'm not wondering why this happens (I get it), it's just an interesting case and frustrating to digest. It's a sad truth--a loved animal, that can't seem to survive.
Their size is another thing I wanted to focus on. They remind us that in our world right now, animal size can do more harm than good. They're massive, but could be swashed like a bug if we don't pay attention. And by "pay attention" I mean rigorous funding, ad campaigns, and political involvement from multiple countries including the U.S. and China (high hopes?).
With my painting I wanted to restore the distance and mystery of the elephant. The sad calm that comes from being too big to hide and the isolation of a species under threat. I want to have a momentary appreciation for elephants where the danger of their situation doesn't trump the beauty. To me, my painting is sad--I could hardly handle researching elephants because of the constant stream of horrifying images and stories that the internet had for me (don't google "ivory"). With all the economics, national interests, international codes, sovereignty, trade regulations, government, and politics in general--it is a sad story. Because in the middle of all of that noise, is a species that is struggling.
Hope you like it!
I'm not wondering why this happens (I get it), it's just an interesting case and frustrating to digest. It's a sad truth--a loved animal, that can't seem to survive.
Their size is another thing I wanted to focus on. They remind us that in our world right now, animal size can do more harm than good. They're massive, but could be swashed like a bug if we don't pay attention. And by "pay attention" I mean rigorous funding, ad campaigns, and political involvement from multiple countries including the U.S. and China (high hopes?).
With my painting I wanted to restore the distance and mystery of the elephant. The sad calm that comes from being too big to hide and the isolation of a species under threat. I want to have a momentary appreciation for elephants where the danger of their situation doesn't trump the beauty. To me, my painting is sad--I could hardly handle researching elephants because of the constant stream of horrifying images and stories that the internet had for me (don't google "ivory"). With all the economics, national interests, international codes, sovereignty, trade regulations, government, and politics in general--it is a sad story. Because in the middle of all of that noise, is a species that is struggling.
Hope you like it!
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