SUBMISSION: Eyes Shut by Nathalie Bergèse
Graphic tablet of Japanese macaque. Status of extinction : vulnerable. The Japanese Macaque is living on the Japanese islands, near thermal springs of hot water, essential to its survival in winter. The differences of its vocalizations would be comparable to the dialects of the human beings. Unfortunately, this monkey suffers of consequences of the destruction of its natural environment. The subspecies of the island of Yakushima is now considered as endangered.
I'm a digital artist hoping that my portraits of endangered species bring us face to face with the victims of our excesses.
I draw them with affection, spend hours breathing life into them with my fingertips and draw closer to them in this creative intimacy, allowing me to dream that there is still time to save them.
About my work :
I render close up views with a shallow depth of field to draw us into the eyes of threatened primates. I depict sentient beings much like ourselves, whose pain we have amplified by destroying their habitat, poaching them... I show us the solemn profile of the pangolin and rhinoceros, two species that have been poached to the brink of extinction, because of their scales, their horns. I ask us to contemplate the permanence of extinction and the reality that the survival of these species rests in our hands.
Please take a look at Nathalie's website http://nathaliebergese.jimdo.com/