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Love Letters

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Love Letters, Scimitar Oryx, Franklin's Bumblebee, Vaquita (before) 

linen, vanishing thread, gampi paper, chlorophyll ink, mourning pins 

Love Letters begins with line drawings of fourteen species designated as Extinct in the Wild or Critically Endangered. Each drawing is stitched with vanishing thread on linen. A love letter to the pictured species is written below with non-permanent ink made from chlorophyl. Images and words are then subjected to atmospheric elements, to water and light, precipitating their deterioration.
     The project was conceived of in response to the weakening of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by the former United States government administration. Signed into law in 1973, the ESA represents our national commitment to protect the most susceptible of the earth’s flora and fauna. Now, these revisions prevent regulators from considering the effects of climate change, while requiring that economic impacts on oil, coal and other polluting industries be factored into existing or new protections for vulnerable wildlife.
    Love Letters presents a synthesis of representational imagery, material phenomena and text. Its subjects, species on the verge of extinction, are presented recognizably, while the materials used in their depictions and inscribed declarations disintegrate in reference to their fragile states.  

   

  

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