Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 2025

This piece is part of my continued investigation into the relationship between family, love, and nature because of the memory the painting holds. The subjects are myself and my grandmother, and the original picture was taken at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, Louisiana where my grandmothers live. Minnie, my grandmother, always inspires me to look in magazines for inspiration, so I chose to use a collage of magazine cutouts for my abstract zoo. The grand nature surrounding us takes up over half of the canvas, signifying its impact on the lives of my grandmother and I and the rest of humankind. This shared bond and memory with my grandmother is one I treasure, and one that would not exist without the gift of nature.