2006-07

By the time I began to conceptualize this series ten years ago, I had
already spent countless hours researching the life cycle of regional
steelhead and the history of their various species’ introduction into the
Great Lakes. Later, I began acquiring the skills needed to locate, document,
and paint these salmonids. These paintings became a vehicle for exploring
how portions of our society have become disconnected from their natural
environment. (See Biological Regionalism Series)

As I became more knowledgeable about steelhead, I became more connected to
them and was deeply saddened when I encountered one of their corpses. I
photographed their bodies over the years not fully understanding how these
images might be used in the future. Over the past decade, I started to
analyze why these lifeless forms affected me. With each body I documented, I
tried to estimate their age, their genetic background and the life they led
over the past few years.  As I looked more closely at the remains, I would
search for details that would indicate what had led to their demise. I often
saw these deserted or discarded bodies as metaphors for my own life. The
majestic creatures that had, at one time, led noble battles in their
attempts to survive and prosper.  They now had become silent still-lives
that were slowly being broken-down by the same elements that had supported
them. There seemed to be a sad irony and elegance to the cycle.

These paintings try to capture the aesthetics of this elegance and my
emotional connection to these fish and the environment in which they live
and die.

Series consists of 4 paintings - ongoing.