Regional species grace our walls in paint and charcoal: three different approaches to an omnipresent issue. Each of these featured artists creates an opportunity to view their subjects in an intimate and empathetic setting. This collection’s portrayal is especially tender and raw as we explore regional wildlife pushed to the limits of survival. Stylistically diverse, Lee Andre, Heimir Björgúlfsson, and Scott Yeager are tethered by the theme of endangered, threatened, and adapting species. Daunting circumstances are evoked through color, isolated and choreographed figures, and both natural and unnatural settings.
Behaviors can be studied and empathy deployed. However, as with all depictions of wildlife, there are limits to what artist and viewer can understand. This show attempts to cross the line of perception and examine the irony of this pursuit. As Björgúlfsson states, “I question how we, through an anthropocentric lens, might interpret these species interactions. The work explores how these species with different sensory systems might navigate a newly clustered and threatened environment to which they are compelled to adapt. And with that, I ask how we feel about the possible extinction of other species?” As is the case with encroached environments, human-made order can bring chaos to others.
There is a softness to the scientific approach of Lee Andre’s figures. Within their isolated fields and curious gazes toward the viewer, all are untethered by any qualities of space or time. As such, Andre’s portrayals possess the loftiness of spokespeople for their respective species, both vulnerable yet venerable. Contrasted against a dark charcoal background, One in a Million depicts a white bison. Despite having once been revered by Native Americans, bison were eventually pushed to the brink of extinction before their populations began to recover. Rare among its species, the highly contrasted white fur serves as a reminder that such rarity was once a reality rather than the exception.
Plein air studies are the backbone of Scott Yeager’s artistic practice. Larger compositions are synthesized from hours spent immersed in the study of flora, fauna, and the mountains. Although depicting a single scene, Yeager’s paintings take on a time-lapsed quality, as if we, too, observed the animal migrations and passing storms. Familiarity with and a fondness for the high country seep into each of Yeager’s canvases. Traditional in style, the scenes are decidedly contemporary. Bighorn sheep and bison graze and migrate across the artist’s canvases, navigating paths and changing terrains shaped by an increasingly altered landscape.
When faced with the seemingly intractable impact of human life encroaching on wild spaces, we can at least shift our perceptions. Perhaps empathy begins not with fully understanding the lives of other species, but with acknowledging the limits of our own understanding. These works invite us to look more closely and to consider what is lost when habitats disappear, what remains when species are pushed to their limits, and what responsibility accompanies our ability to observe and shape the natural world. In bringing these animals into intimate focus, Andre, Björgúlfsson, and Yeager ask us not simply to see wildlife, but to reconsider our place within its fragile and continually changing environment.
