Art Exhibition- Endangered

I attended the art exhibition for Emily Arthur called Endangered. Her work dealt with the endangered parts of nature such as environments and animals. Most of her work included paintings of endangered plants and animals over a background of pale watercolor paint. Many of the plants and animals depicted were in the style of diagrams such as one would find in a biology book. The sort of harsh, matter-of-fact depictions of the plants and animals over the more delicate, natural background gave a stark contrast in the pieces overall. A few of the pieces really stuck out to me; the piece entitled Songbirds (with Small Butterfly) was created in 2015 and was a screen print on paper. It depicted several rows of diagrams of undetermined, endangered species of birds, and in the center of the piece was a blue butterfly. This was printed over a background of orange and blue watercolor paint. What really made an impression on me was the way the birds were shown- they appeared to be deceased as they were laying down with their legs curled into the body. Another piece that was significant was White Deer in Flight Pattern made in 2014. It was another screen print on paper depicting a deer in the center printed in light blue, and a row of four deer alongside the top of the paper. In the background were dark shades of blue and red with what appeared to be different types of flora. I appreciated the stark contrasts of darker colors as opposed to lighter, more delicate colors used in the backgrounds of her work. This gave the piece a more serious, somber feel. Overall I enjoyed this exhibition and I felt it was successful in trying to show the impact that humans’ actions have on the environment and other inhabitants living in it.