The Discovery Gallery

Pollinator/ not Pollinator: but mostly bees
An exhibition of paintings by Dan Collins

This body of work started with the idea that our view of the natural world is an abstraction of our reality. No matter how much we know about life on Earth, we will never truly understand how it is experienced by the myriad of beings we share this planet with. Thus, environmentalism is pretty much all about us. Contrarily, to sustain this planet, we must preserve the wilds. Set aside at least 50% of the planet to be as free as possible from human intervention. As a metaphor, these works seek to severely limit the space of the subject creating various balance points between abstraction and representation. They are at the center, confined and manipulated to fit that confinement. I have narrowed the scope of the subject matter to “pollinators: who is and who isn’t.” A simple question, but I’m hoping that no one misses the elephant in the room: Empirical evidence suggests that we are entering what scientists are calling the Sixth Mass Extinction. The rate of species extinction is anywhere between 1000 and 10000 times the natural rate depending on geographical location. More than 40% of insect species are in steep decline and more than a third are endangered. The rate of insect extinction is 8 times faster than that of Birds, Mammals, and Reptiles. So, I chose to focus this show on the lynchpin: Pollinators. Did you know that upwards of 90% of all pollination is done by bees? That is because bees (and some wasps) are one of the only pollinators that seek out pollen as a food source throughout their entire lifecycle. While others occasionally eat pollen or will eat it at certain life stages, bees are true palynivores. Everyone else is some kind of “accidental” pollinator or other, mostly in pursuit of nectar—that, of course, does not negate their importance. The loss of pollinators would trigger entire ecosystem collapse around the world. That is how important they are. That is the serious and urgent news that I hope we all take to heart.

But I don’t think humans pay much attention to pure doom and gloom messages, a spoonful of sugar (or honey) and all that—so in the spirit of reveling in the beauty we have, I hope that this show is perceived as artful, humorous, informative, creative, and enlightening. I hope it can be appreciated on many levels. If there is a certain awkwardness to these paintings, I embrace it. It feels right to me that they are alternately cogent and naive, each in their own way.

These paintings were created with watercolor, gouache, pencil, pen, and whatever was closest to my hand when I wanted to make a mark.

For several years I have been drawing and painting birds, animals, and sea creatures, but mostly insects. I love studying their bodies, using them as vehicles for artistic explorations into form, composition, line, color, and transparency—the usual stuff that excites the hand and eye, but also as an environmental exploration. I read about my subjects, look at hundreds of pictures, and figure out how they move; how their bodies articulate. I don’t do this to be representational as much as to respect the form and substance of the animal. I don’t want to break anyone, just to bend them gently to my message. My current work deals with themes of confinement and limits, compositionally and conceptually. What does it do to a composition when your subject occupies the entire frame and wants more, but you refuse it? What kind of emotional response or empathy does its twisted body elicit? What broader themes can these bodies convey? Still, there is pure joy for me in dragging a loaded brush across a pristine white sheet of hot press.

Broadest brush? We are constantly confronted with new challenges, possibilities, and perils at a pace we can scarcely keep up with, and all of this at a time when we are outsourcing more and more of what it means to be human: knowledge, memory, and creativity. The central questions of our time are existential ones: Climate Change, extinction/eco-system collapse, and the accelerating (d)evolutionary merger of man and machine intelligence. I don’t know that Art can separate itself from questions like these. They tend to show up anyway in the fabric of perception. I take seriously the responsibility to seek a balance between the message and the manifestation of my work. I hope to contribute ideas that sustain the human in humanity and the natural in our world. I don’t know what good I will ultimately do. But I intend to play my part, however quiet or small. I hope everyone does.

A portion of the proceeds of any sale from this show will go to support The Texas Discovery Gardens and Re: Wild (A conservation organization that seeks to preserve and restore wilderness around the globe).