30” x 40” Mixed Media on Paper (charcoal, pastel, ink, metal/gold leafing)

My endeavor was to take our most beloved and successful Whale, the Humpback, and have her as the centerpiece. Her massive and powerful pectoral fins have become useless. Her young calf looks at her worriedly, but grabs a line and tries to help bring her Mother to the surface. Next to her, the almighty Orcas come together using their power to bring her towards the surface to breathe. The deep diving Sperm Whales use their prized asset, their spermaceti filled heads, to slowly push 50,000 pounds towards the surface. All the other animals have rallied together to do their part to set this Humpback Mother free.

I created a complex scene from a simple story in order to create an abundance of surprises for the viewer. I chose to do the fish in metal leafing, as this would get an amazing array of reflecting colors. I wanted to create an abstract sense of their existence, contrasting the details of the other animals. The lack of fish in the top half of the artwork is symbolic of overfishing, as the lower half of the artwork is teaming with schools of fish. The triangular shape around the eye of the Humpback Mother represents the pyramid on the back of a US Dollar, representing our greed. The fishing line ‘floats’ that the Orca calf has are symbolic of Orcas and Dolphins in captivity. I also wanted to create a type of a tiered waterfall appearance within the group of three Orcas, suggesting the trickling down effect our actions have with the Ocean. It starts up above the surface with us, then makes its way down deep into the ocean (the Orca calf casts a shadow onto her mother, and the mother casts a shadow onto the third Orca below her, which casts a shadow onto the Humpback Whale Mother).