Biological Regionalism Series

 As our culture becomes more homogenized by mass media and consumerism, the one element that remains true to a region is its natural environment. Although we try to manipulate it to fit our needs, the landscape and the biological inhabitants characterize a region's nature. It is an omnipresent influence that affects a region's people and culture. The knowledge of a region's distinguishing natural elements is being lost as generations become continually more disconnected from a lifestyle that relies on the landscape for survival and aesthetic renewal.

For the past 20 years, I have lived in rural Western New York and have worked on several series of paintings that investigated Cuban and American culture. Many years ago, I began reading about local history and began researching local entomology, biological cycles of regional salmonids (trout) and the role of local rivers in culture. As I acquired more information about this region, I found myself being seduced by the painters of the Hudson River School of the 19th century.  This art movement documented the expanding American landscape for the general public who had little exposure to this new environment. The study of biology, botany, geology and art was popular amongst the residents of the new country and piscatorial art and nature painting was considered a form of "high art" during the early 19th century. This art form no longer seems innovative in our contemporary art landscape. The connection between nature and culture seems to have been lost, as most of our social and economic reliance has moved to an urban setting. This project tries to reestablish this connection by reintroducing the fish and landscape that are characteristic to a region through the use

of traditional and contemporary mediums.

While the regions are specific, the issues raised are universal.