The Northern Spotted Owl in Canada 2006
Oil on 16 panels
18" x 8,5"
2006
In 2006 there were just 16 Northern Spotted Owls remaining in the old growth forests of British Columbia. The provincial government planned to reopen logging in stands of forest where the remaining owls nested. To talk about the issue I used scientific information contained in an article "Logging to Extinction: The Last Stand of the Spotted Owl in Canada". I built 16 panels, each one was the same height, 18", width, 8.5" and weight (a pound to a pound and a half) as an actual Spotted Owl. The first panel painted was timed and completed in 19 hours and 11 minutes. The amount of time given to paint the second panel was 10% less the time of the first, to incorporate that the owls were disappearing at a rate of 10% a year. For the series of 16 panels each was done at 10% less time than the one before and collectively conveyed the disappearance of the image and the concept of the disappearing Northern Spotted Owl species in Canada
