78″ x 66″, acrylic on canvas, from a series of airbrushed paintings inspired by blackboards

“Human/nature,” is a black-and-white airbrushed painting whose imagery derives from one of my photographic works. There is a central image of a little girl in Mickey Mouse ears flanked by early Mediterranean gods with human bodies and animal heads. Around this center float images from many sources which speak of our cultural and psychological connections to animals. Included are early rock paintings and carvings, chimera, a museum display of stuffed birds, Spot from a grade school primer, hieroglyphs, Romulus and Remus, etc. Layered below these images is a chart of the Animal Kingdom, an allusion to how we order nature (from sponges to humans). And floating above everything on the surface of the painting are chalked sentences and phrases which exemplify the lingering presence of animal references in our language (to parrot, lionize, ferret out, bully, cower, doggedly, outfox, etc.).