Space

Kingdom Animalia Artist's Statement:

The main idea behind filling the negative space of the leaves with animals came from my biology class. I thought that since I already had the negative space of leaves, it would be an interesting visual to fill all the outside space with animals. 

the animals and outline of the leaves were all made with sharpie pen on printmaking paper. 

I used a lot of reference photos from the internet to make the animals. my process was similar to a zentangle, where I was just making shapes that looked like animals and then giving them defining characteristics. 

Scholastics & Tidal Shift Artist's Statement, Kingdom Animalia: 

My work 'Kingdom Animalia' addresses species extinction and the diminishing of biodiversity. It does this by taking the negative space of leaves that I found in my yard and filling their surroundings with all the animals I could think of. The negative space of the leaves represents the hole that these lost species will leave in the world when they're gone. 

There is not only a loss of beauty with declining biodiversity. We rely on biodiversity in so many ways, that I don't think we have even found them all out yet. Biodiversity and complex ecosystems account for the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the purification of the water we drink. I have a personal connection to this as part of the future generation. Not only would I like to survive, but I want to thrive, and live in a world that is still beautiful. I want to swim in coral reefs and look up at towering trees and not think "this will all soon be gone".

Footnote: The name Kingdom Animalia comes from biological categories, and in many ways, I took inspiration from my biology class. I was also inspired by biological drawings, of diagrams and organisms.