AUSTIN'S UNDERGROUND FRONTIER
These are 7 large paintings of local cave endangered species, with the karst landscape being a double set. Some animals are actually very small (the psuedoscorpion fits on a pencil eraser), and I thought that presenting them on a much larger scale would be a highly effective way for Austin to meet them. I have also included several paintings that involve women’s relationship with globally endangered animals.
Austin is home to hundreds of known caves, many with endangered wildlife. Most Austinites are unaware of the network of caves that run under their feet, and these paintings are a way to introduce the public to their awesome inhabitants. Isolated below, these creatures evolved for an extra several million years, which created some remarkable characters, now particularly susceptible to extinction with our rapid urbanization. The caves are unfortunately regularly filled in for development, which makes this mission critical. I am an endangered species artist commissioned by the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan and Austin Water Wildlands to paint portraits of these awesome species. It is their hope that local citizens will learn to care for the threatened inhabitants of this dark and mysterious underground world.
Psuedoscorpion
Austin Underground Frontier is the name of the painting and of the series.
Tri-colored Bat
We need to practice vigilance for the ways that all things wild - mountains, rivers, otters, clouds, ourselves - are connected in a delicious and fierce beauty. Today, alienation and a peculiar poverty of soul are the result of controlling nature rather than knowing it. Science is a crucial guide, but can prevent us from engaging in rituals that once gave natural forces the reverence necessary for us to align with. We need to summon the person in us who ground stomps to bring rain, listens for subterranean rivers, and introduces themselves to trees, knowing they respond. I work hard to create art that will call us back to connection with the truly wild.
Rhadine and Texoredelia
Jollville Plateau Salamander Eurycea tonkawae
Named after the Tonkawa tribe that inhabited Central Texas until the 1850’s, this salamander lives only in the springs that ran through areas of the northern Travis and southwest Williamson Counties. Salamanders are canaries of the aquifers, as they can only live in pristine, sparkling pure water. If they have disappeared, it is time to clean up. Unlike land salamanders, these have lovely feathery gills to absorb oxygen from the water.
Harvestman
Attwell’ s work is the search for ways that all things wild - clouds, mountains, otters, ourselves - are connected in a delicious and fierce beauty. She strives to reawaken the singularity we have lost with this powerful undercurrent. In today’s culture, alienation and a peculiar poverty of soul are the result of spending more time controlling nature than knowing it. We need to summon the primordial self – the one who stomps on the ground to bring rain, lays down on the earth to listen for underground rivers, and introduces themselves to trees, knowing that they respond.
Barbara Attwell's career began with a scholarship at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts from the 4th to the 12th grade, followed by a BFA Cum Laude from the University of Texas at Austin.
Barbara Attwell's website is https://barbaraattwell.net/
Credits:
Barbara Attwell