Evolution
2023
collage, acrylic, charcoal, chalk
30" x 24"
This image of the white bellied spider monkey was originally a lithograph by Karl Joseph Brodtmann from Heinrich Rudolf Schinzs Illustrated Natural History of Animals, Zurich, 1827 Heinrich Rudolf Schinz (30 March 1777 – 8 March 1861) was a Swiss physician and naturalist. The spider monkey is an endangered species due to destruction of the rainforests and hunting in South America. The collaged background of religious text reiterates the hypocrisy of religious dogma and complicity and justification of violence and oppression and reminds us of our responsibility to evolve beyond this futile ideology. The image is reimagined in charcoal and chalk, reiterating the fragility of his and our own existence.