As a kid, I would look with wonder at the intricate ceramic figurines displayed proudly by my grandmother on her living room shelves.  Each dusted daily, and enshrined atop a hand-woven doily, these figurines taught me about exotic Japanese costumes, French ballerinas, and animals from the wild corners of our earth. It was part of my culture that the way to acknowledge the value and importance of a thing in my home was to place it on a doily.  That telegraphed to us all, and to all who visited, that these items were special, important, and required special care and protection.

 

After decades of warnings of environmental catastrophe, mass extinction, and climactic degradation, it occurred to me that we desperately need to honor, protect, and care for the natural world that sustains us, and with whom we share the planet.

 

I have created a series of images that depict natural beauty and diversity as fragile, porcelain figurines.  These tiny statues are often cast aside these days, as being trite, of another time, and generally overdone.  The same could be said of many of the environmental warnings that now sound hollow in our collective ears. 

 

I have captured images of these ceramic ambassadors of the natural world, and created with each its own doily.  Created from the natural elements that surround each species, the doilies mark their value, their importance, and the urgent need for conservation and advocacy.

 

It seemed to make so much sense.  To truly appreciate the natural world, all you had to do was capture it, mount it, collect it, and display it. To truly honor a beautiful and dangerous animal, we recreate it in art.