Chapter 1: Connect

We are in an environmental crisis. The threat is imminent, and yet, as human beings, we are struggling to recognize the urgency of required collective action. Spazuk presents Chapter 1: Connect, the 50 Endangered Species, in an attempt to activate engagement, shine a light on the surface of the 6th mass extinction, and reconnect us to the significance of Nature and our preservation of it.

The 50 Endangered Species series is a collection of varying sized wood panels with candle soot and gold leaf edges. Each work depicts a distinct species threatened by extinction, from various kingdoms. These creatures are vanishing before we ever recognized their presence on this planet.

The subject of each piece is chosen from the IUCN, Red List. The list is a critical indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity, comprised of 32,000+ species. Like the Red List, Spazuk pulls these creatures back into universal focus. He invites the viewer to witness these beings with intimacy and acknowledgment. He asks the viewer to fall into love with them, to engage in seeking justice from this place-- one of reverence.

Captured, as partially disappearing in wisps of smoke, Spazuk evokes the fleeting reality of these creatures. The gesture to swiftly capture them in ephemeral smoke evokes the desperate and poetic sentiment of the artist's plea.

50 Endangered Species, works as an ecosystem. Individually, the pieces are stunning, striking, and personal, but together, they are all-encompassing. The work hangs like a web of varying dimension and depth. Standing in front of 50 Endangered Species, we are confronted with all that we are losing, face to face. This confrontation creates a dual effect; we are forced to recognize the faces subject to our ignorance and take responsibility, and we are also washed over with a wave of awe for their beauty.

The multi-dimensional materiality of the structure (its varying depths and sizes) creates an almost topographical or breath-like effect when experiencing the piece as a whole. The artist metaphorically illicites breath from the still images, activating their depth, bringing life back into them. The biophilic response that ensues from witnessing the work’s totality is precisely Spazuk’s activistic tactic; to reconnect the viewer with other forms of life. To rediscover our kinship to all life forms on this planet. Like 50 Endangered Species, we are an ecosystem-- when ripped from our context, from all creatures on this planet, we fall into the fallacy of separateness. When we learn to extend our view past our immediate experience, as Spazuk invites us to, we are awakened to all the other forms of life that are fleeting, magnificent and imperative, if we make it so. We are more whole with them and it’s time we recognize that.