Hybrid Beasts

Initially, my fauna portraits were wildlife studies – accurate but fanciful. I sought the quintessential characteristics to best define each animal – an egret’s backwardly bent leg, a beaver’s elongated tooth. Spot began as a rodent. But as its features individuated, Spot’s identity changed. The tongue, textured with tastebuds, became canine as it flapped in the wind. A clump of drips slicked flat, conjured a beaver’s wet pelt. Brown moles dotting two pink cheeks mimicked my own, age-flecked skin.

Spot is one of several hybrid creatures inspired by allegorical beasts. I looked to medieval manuscript illuminations, Balinese mythology, Roman portrait busts, and always, observations from nature.

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