Beauty is a Beast
Beauty is a Beast: Beautiful, but invasive species
OVERVIEW
I have been drawing on surfaces other than plain paper for many years because I prefer materials that come with a certain amount of baggage––embedded history or automatic associations. Recent examples include works on security paper, roadmaps, graph paper, pillowcases, lace, and tea towels. Also, reusing materials meshes with my focus on environmental issues. The ink and ink wash drawings shown here were completed on handmade paper pulped from old bank statements.
BEAUTY IS A BEAST SERIES
The Beauty is a Beast series is a work-in-progress concerning beautiful but invasive plants. Invasive plants often spread so rapidly they overwhelm and suffocate other plant life and can be harmful to humans and animals. A good example of this is my drawing of the giant hogweed. On a recent hike I was blocked by what looked like a massive Queen Anne’s Lace: 12 feet tall with a 10-inch flower head. Curious, I started to investigate it but decided to keep going. This was fortunate, as it turns out to be highly poisonous. (I don’t recommend googling it.) Each invasive plants in this series have a caption that delineate its dangers. For example, the multiflora rose, brought to the U.S. in 1866, grew so thick it was used to keep cattle and other domestic animals corralled with its dense vines and painful thorns. Now it has become so pervasive it impedes the movement of forest animals. Kudzu, probably the best-known invasive, was featured in the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. Touted as a beautiful floral vine, it can grow 12 inches every 24 hours, with vines reaching over 100 feet forming bizarre landscapes as it smothers everything in its path. I chose to draw Kudzu because I could not believe such a deadly plant would have such seductive flowers.