Artist's Statement

Dutch still life paintings of the seventeenth century revealed the beauty, fragility and impermanence of nature. These works served as a reminder of the transience of life and the certainty of death. I have been investigating in a series of recent mixed media works and digital prints the Vanitas theme found in life cycles. Periodic visits were made to a site dedicated to road kill collected from surrounding highways. Death, despoilment, productivity, beauty and degrees in between were documented observing the decomposition of organic matter over a period of several seasons. Coming into focus and illumination has been a cross path of human activity and wildlife domain leading to a tragic voiding of life of the latter. This intersection, and often divergent path of animals and humans, is a topic I am pursuing using a variety of materials, digital prints, aged papers, found objects and images from 19th century science journals.