Stewards of Nature, 2020

Exploring the landscapes of pristine forests, collecting intentional medicines.

Integrating human life with the natural world has always been the mark of progress. When we create civilizations so massive, that we begin protecting the forests, and mountains, and geological wonders, we are living in a world that honors our need of pristine nature.

These paired paintings represent this connection of modern humanity to the natural world. During the painting I actually had a lot of thoughts about the color of their skin - current peoples who are truly living in harmony with the natural world are generally darker skinned, while white people have historically been the destroyers of nature. Colonialism deems their constructions to be more important, and I am against it - I believe we need to find ways to live as symbiotically in the natural world as possible.

I would like to flip this idea on it's head, for I believe an understanding of the natural world, plus a sense of awe at the beauty, is essential to our modern life. Whether we're farmers or tech developers, we need to learn from all life forms on our beautiful planet Earth. Within nature, lie countless solutions in how wild plants and animals weave their existence together and survive.