Emma Waligory

I am drawn to depicting endangered animals; these paintings are their portraits. The texture of the varying furs and feathers comes naturally to my hand; however, my real interest is the color they exhibit. Some animals blend in with their natural habitats, while others developed the means to stand out from their environment. If not seen in context, some colors, and therefore some animals, can appear exaggerated. I have created these works with intense complementary colors to continue the question of what are the true colors of the natural world. I represent the different species using a combination of vibrant, manufactured materials – acrylic paint, plastic buttons, mosaic tiles and random detritus—to highlight the vulnerability of these creatures due to human activity. Additionally, I create digital illustrations of the animals as an approach that makes no waste. I make each work to display my admiration for the animals, and the series is my effort to preserve their worth.

I also created a parallel series inspired by my personal experience with dairy farms, cows have inspired me to show a similar admiration as I do for endangered animals. One of the purest joys of my childhood was working on my uncle's dairy farm in upstate New York, scraping the cow manure, and helping milk. My memory of cows was formed in my childhood, before understanding the risks to the environment through industrialization. By painting both endangered species and domesticated farm animals, I am creating beauty out of the ugly truths of impending global changes.

My work is a playful synthesis of the personal and the imaginative relationships I have with these animals, as well as my inspirations from Pop Art. I am creating imagery that is easily recognizable to the general public, elevating these facts of the world into icons. The simple portraits give the animals agency to live in a place that is beyond commentary.

Unlike Pop Artists who strived to make their work look mechanical and machine-made, I lean into the physicality of my paintings. I use energetic, gestural brush strokes, and collage to construct the animals. By working fast with the acrylic paint, I allow the strokes to come as an instinct from my body, instead of from a calculated plan.

Additionally, I am up-cycling some materials to make use of the waste I have created during the painting process. By using the dried flakes, I am reanimating the paint to create a new life for the materials. The application of paint chips into some of the pieces makes the paintings more tactile, which highlights the physicality of the work put into each. With each painting being multi-layered and textured, I am showing that every portrait is a labor of devotion to each creature. The hands-on experience of making these portraits allows me to immerse myself both into the materials, but also the realities of the subject matter. The series enables me to pay homage to these animals that have become the victims of human existence.