ENDANGERED: Fine Art & Photography Contest 2021 Submission

In a lush grassland sprinkled with wild flowers, an Asian elephant wanders away from the group. Painted with oils on canvas, she looks beyond the horizon nostalgically, and raises her trunk to greet the warmth of the sun. Bushes engulf sections of the grassland, blanketing the elephant in comfort. As an endangered species with a dwindling population, Asian elephants are poached for their ivory tusks and experience habitat loss from human urbanization. Despite these hardships, Asian elephants are a symbol of hope, embodying the nature of flourishing in a world of instability. In human culture, we find that Asian elephants are idolized as creatures who foster hopes and dreams. The god Ganesha (in Hinduism) appears with the head of an elephant, providing the people with spiritual blessings to overcome obstacles. In Thai and Sinhalese cultures, Asian elephants are worshipped as sacred guides to life, capturing the universal sense of beauty, wisdom, and endurance through time.