Depictions of the natural world have existed since prehistoric time. Whether created to record the cyclical rhythm of the year, to express religious devotion, or to document scientific inquiry, the resultant images reflect our overall thirst to understand our world through observing nature. These images may vary from culture to culture and over the course of time, but they all reflect our desire to intertwine humanity with the natural world.
Cameron Davis is an artist, a teacher, and an environmentalist whose work brings together some of these historic traditions. Devi Prayer, which translates to Hymn to the Divine Mother, references spiritual and symbolic links to science and art. This large painting addresses, in particular, the dramatic population decline of the honeybee. Within its cashmere softness, we recognize apple blossom petals, apple seeds, connective ribbons of plant matter, and tiny black-and-white drawings of bees and schematics of their dance patterns. Although the work is grounded in reality and representation, it exudes an abstract ephemerality that helps us more deeply understand the plight of the fragile insect. With its rosy golden palette, Davis invites “an immersive gaze, where we find ourselves within a space, just as we are within the whole system we call life.”
Cameron Davis lives and works in Burlington, Vermont. She is a senior lecturer in art and art history at the University of Vermont. She serves on the steering committee of the UVM EcoCulture lab and is a contributor to the forthcoming publication, Ecoart in Action: Activities, Case Studies & Provocations for Classrooms & Communities (New Village Press). Her work is currently on display at the UVM Medical Center. Davis may be reached through her website.