Past Exhibition

Unintended Consequences – The Extinct Bird Series

Rosa Quintana Lillo
Jan 24, 2013
to
Mar 30, 2013
EXHIBITION
Rosa Quintana Lilo, Target Series #1, Nestor Norfocensis (detail), 2012, mixed nedia acrylics on canvas banner, 36x60"

This series deals with extinct birds, the cause of their extinctions, and the unintended consequences of human actions.

There are countless reasons for bird and animal extinction, the introduction of invasive species, the destruction of habitat, hunting, capture and trade. This series came out of desperation. One of my golden studio rules is Do Not Despair, EVER, it has always referred to technical difficulties in the studio but I had never applied it to my own personal life. When hearing of the loss of hundreds of migrating birds in open tar sands tailings ponds, when hearing of the absence of all birds in Guam Island due to the introduction of snakes, I have felt despair but that gets me nowhere. So I decided to study and research the history of bird extinctions and the causes of the extinctions. This series begun with the Dodo, of course. In my research, I have found that the Dodo was a flightless bird living on the Mauritius Islands which were colonized by the Dutch around the 1500’s, it took approximately 100 years for the Dodo to go extinct. The colonizers of this island brought with them their hunger, dogs, monkeys, pigs, rats and cats. This in turn brought the demise of the Dodo. And all of this history gives birth to a rich visual imagery that has led me to paint this work.

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