Mammals
Reindeer Heart – Oil on Canvas – Omay Lee 2020
The indigenous Eveny peoples of Siberia believed that reindeer were created by the sky god Hovki, for reciprocal nurturance on earth, and to lift the human soul up to the sun ~ Reindeer People, Vitebsky
The reciprocal relationship between humans and other-than-human were embodied in indigenous cultures, yet such heart-to-heart communication has become disengaged in modern times. How in these times do we revive this connection by way through our hearts?
Contemplation – Oil on Canvas – Omay Lee 2020
Sentience was never our private possession. We live immersed in intelligence, enveloped and informed by a creativity we cannot fathom~ David Abram
Healing by Horse – Oil on Canvas – Omay Lee 2020
With what words of the heart can we meet in connection? Growth and emergence do not come from outward striving and attainment, but by connecting within and between.
Transylvanian Bear – Oil on Canvas – Omay Lee 2020
“We call them dumb animals for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words” ~ Ann Sewell, Black Beauty
Translucent Shore – Oil on Canvas – Omay Lee 2020
The inner — what is it? if not the intensified sky, hurled through with birds and deep. with the winds of homecoming ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
Call of the Wild – Oil on Canvas – Omay Lee 2020
There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive ~ from Buck, in Call of the Wild
Distress of the Polar Bear – Oil on Canvas – Omay Lee 2019
As one great Furnace flam’d, yet from those flames
No light, but rather darkness visible
Serv’d only to discover sights of woe.. ~ Paradise Lost
These are times of deep woe, in the face of global warming forced by anthropogenic human activity. Disappearing ice impacts on polar bears habitats and food sources, and their survival is being threatened.
Nature Sees – Oil on Canvas – Omay Lee 2019
In the tangled haze of wilderness, the creature who remains unseen sees all. It is stuck in the paradox of witnessing deforestation and habitat destruction, yet its own camouflaged voice cannot speak out against injustice. It reminds us of caring for what has been marginalised by our culture. It is through art that the silenced may speak. If we listen without judgement, what can we notice that has been silenced by our consumption of the natural resources of the planet?
Thai Elephants – Oil on Canvas – Omay Lee 2019
The elephant is the largest mammal on earth, having existing for at least 55 million years – much longer than humans have existed. Yet throughout history, they were manipulated by humans, for instance as war elephants in combat, or hunted and killed for their ivory tusks, or forced to migrate due to deforestation and destruction of their habitats – the pattern of their withdrawal over time and space was the reverse image of the expansion and intensification of settlement.
Plight of the Orangutans – Oil on Canvas – Omay Lee 2019
Inhuman man! curse on thy barb’rous art
And blasted be thy murder-aiming eye;
May never pity soothe thee with a sigh,
Nor ever pleasure glad thy cruel heart!
Go live, poor wanderer of the forest and field!
The bitter little that of life remains:
No more the thickening brakes and verdant plains
To thee shall home, or food, or pastime yield
[On seeing the wounded ~ Robert Burns]
Orangutan populations particularly in Southeast Asia have experienced a sharp decline, due to deforestation, illegal logging and other activities. Orangutans are isolated and vulnerable with few habitation remaining.
