I do love hunting scenes…

Not the kind with guns and macho men holding up their kill by the heels, but the kind where natural predators are hunting their natural prey in their natural habitat. The kind of thing we never see anymore (except on the completely wonderful BBC series Planet Earth).

This isn’t really a new thing for me, but only recently have I started admitting to myself how much I like them. I’m fascinated by this simultaneously brutal and beautiful act; one that essentially hasn’t changed (for animals) since the beginning. Below is a painting by George Catlin that I clearly remember studying as a kid. It was in a Time Life book with the PC title “The Indians”, which despite its somewhat dated content remains one of the most influential collections of images of my early artistic development. I recently found a copy at a used book drive, and have been revisiting all of the old inspiration.

Someone sent me this article from the New York Times recently about the possible end of protection for wolves in Yellowstone, and it had another amazing hunting image.

I don’t exactly know how to explain what it is that I like so much about these images, and about this subject. I know that lately when I think about writing an artist statement (something that describes why you’ve dedicated your whole existence to creating these specific images in less than 300 words- not a problem), my mind goes straight to these images. They sum it up in a way that I just don’t know how to put into words yet- at least not without sounding cheesy and probably a little pretentious. So, this is it: I like the hunt. I like the beauty and the power. I like the stillness that comes immediately before and immediately after death.