To Be a Hawk
This painting is inspired by the grammar of animacy, as expressed in Robin Wall Kimmerer's book, Braiding Sweetgrass. In many Indigenous languages, verbs comprise 70% of the words, while in English, 70% are nouns. Verb-based languages convey a living environment of relationships rather than one of inert objects existing for personal consumption.
Contemplating this while hiking my local San Bruno Mountain, I found myself astonished by the diversity of flora and fauna that exists here despite the San Francisco Bay Area’s pressing urban sea and resulting habitat loss. My choice of title encourages viewers to put on their own "animate glasses” and to shift their perspective toward the bird’s. Thus, what might have been "Hawk Through Window," is instead, "To Be a Hawk.”
I photographed this bird of prey - most likely a Cooper's Hawk - perched atop a pine tree in San Bruno Mountain County Park. For more information, see my "To Be" Artist Statement at www.lynetteinthestudio.com/to-be-statement.html. Acrylic on canvas. (For zoom: click on gray box with four arrows.)
Contemplating this while hiking my local San Bruno Mountain, I found myself astonished by the diversity of flora and fauna that exists here despite the San Francisco Bay Area’s pressing urban sea and resulting habitat loss. My choice of title encourages viewers to put on their own "animate glasses” and to shift their perspective toward the bird’s. Thus, what might have been "Hawk Through Window," is instead, "To Be a Hawk.”
I photographed this bird of prey - most likely a Cooper's Hawk - perched atop a pine tree in San Bruno Mountain County Park. For more information, see my "To Be" Artist Statement at www.lynetteinthestudio.com/to-be-statement.html. Acrylic on canvas. (For zoom: click on gray box with four arrows.)