SKULLPTURE — DAN POWER

HIGHLANDSEquus caballus || Pen and Ink on Horse Skull || 2017 [SOLD]The misnomer that wild horses in the Australian Alps are a part of our heritage is not only misguided, but also fundamentally damaging. The romantic connotations, born in colonial culture, now overshadow an ecological nightmare and the relentless growth of brumby populations. Their brief tenure in the high country cannot compare to the millions of years it has taken for Australian natives, now threatened with extinction, to adapt to such a unique environment.Featured native flora and fauna: Blue Mountains water Skink [Eulamprus leuraensis] [EN], Southern corroboree Frog [Pseudophryne corroboree] [CR], Mountain pygmy Possum [Burramys parvus] [CR], Broad-toothed Mouse [Mastacomys fuscus] [T], Booroolong Frog [Litoria booroolongensis] [CR], Streaked rock Orchid [Dockrillia striolata] [EN], Veined sun Orchid [Thelymitra cyanea] [T], Mueller’s snow Gentian [Gentianella muelleriana] [V], Ribbed bush Pea [Pultenaea costata] [V].

G[RAZED]Bos taurus || Pen and ink on Bull Skull || 2016 [SOLD]Winner of the 2016 Waterhouse Natural Science Art Emerging Artist Prize. Australia’s native flora and fauna are the result of hundreds of millions of years of evolution in isolation, and are found nowhere else in the world. Overgrazing by cattle and agricultural land clearing erode habitat complexity and with it, species diversity. What’s left behind is a scarred, desertified and eroded husk of once thriving woodlands and sclerophyll forests.Featured native flora and fauna: Leadbeater's Possum [Gymnobelideus leadbeateri] [CR], Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat [Lasiorhinus krefftii] [CR], Helmeted Honeyeater [Lichenostomus melanops cassidix] [CR], Swift Parrot [Lathamus discolor] [CR], Night Parrot [Pezoporus occidentalis] [EN], Grooved helmet Orchid [Nematoceras sulcatum] [EN], Large-club Spider-orchid [Caladenia macroclavia] [EN].

GOATSKULLCapra hircus | Ink drawing on Goat Skull, mounted on eucalyptus | 2019Feral Goats [Capra hircus] have proliferated in Australia due to their hardy constitution, rapid reproductive cycle and broad diet. They overgraze native plants whilst out-competing native species for food and habitat. Despite this, feral goats have the potential to help control introduced weeds such as Blackberry and Lantana. Fortunately, the economic benefit of goat mustering makes their capture and export a more appealing control method than outright slaughter.Featured Threatened species: Brush-tailed rock Wallaby [Petrogale penicillata] [V], Yellow-footed rock Wallaby [Petrogale xanthopus] [V], Broad-headed Snake [Hoplocephalus bungaroides] [V], Kangaroo Island Dunnart [Sminthopsis aitkeni] [V], Rough emu Bush [CR].

BOAR SKULLSus scrofa | Ink drawing on Wild Boar Skull | 2019 $2000Feral pigs now outnumber human beings in Australia. By focusing on roots, tubers and animal eggs, feral pigs actively hinder a number of already threatened populations from recovering amidst myriad other threats. As intelligent and opportunistic omnivores, they decimate native ecosystems but they are not to blame, we are.Featured Threatened species: Brolga [Antigone rubincunda] [T] Loggerhead Sea Turtle [Caretta caretta] Corroborree Frog [Pseudophryne pengilleyi] [CR], Northern Bettong [Bettongia tropica] [E], Long-footed Potorroo [Potorus longipes] [V], Grooved helmet Orchid [Corybas sulcatus] [E], Greater swamp Orchid [Phaius australis] [E].

SHEEP SKULLOvis aries | Ink drawing on Ram Skull | 2017 [SOLD]Although sheep are one of the few introduced species to not have gone feral, their cultivation and negative impacts on native ecosystems are no less profound. Deforestation and constant grazing pressure strips away ecosystem complexity, eroding the habitats of native species and their resilience to myriad other threats. This is artifact of both intensive agriculture and improper management with some rare cases of periodic grazing shown to help repair damaged ecosystems, such as the habitat of the endangered Plains Wanderer [Pedionomus torquatus], featured behind the horns.Featured native flora and fauna: Malleefowl [Leipoa ocellata] [V], Yellow-footed Rock wallaby [Petrogale xanthopus] [V], Thick-billed Grasswren [Amytornis modestus] [V], Spiny everlasting Daisy [Acanthocladium dockeri] [CR], Boscabel conostylis [Conostylis setigera] [CR], Native Foxglove [Dasymalla axillaris] [CR], Fringed keraudrenia [Keraudrenia exastia] [CR], White-beauty Spider-orchid [Caladenia argocalla] [E], Yellow desert Greenhood Orchid [Pterostylis xerophila] [T], Swainson Pea [Swainsonia pyrophila] [V]

FOX SKULLVulpes vulpes | Ink drawing on Fox Skull | 2017 [SOLD]The introduction of foxes to Australia has been ecologically devastating, resulting in the highest rate of mammal extinctions in the world. Foxes are highly adaptive, effective and opportunistic predators and have decimated small marsupials since the 1870’s. Numerous species have already gone extinct, including the Desert rat-kangaroo [Caloprymnus campestris] [featured] with many more set to follow.Featured native fauna: Woylie [Bettongia penicillata] [CR], Numbat [Myrmecobius fasciatus] [EN], Malleefowl [Leipoa ocellata] [V], Eastern barred Bandicoot [Perameles gunnii] [V].

CAT SKULLFelis catus | Ink drawing on Cat Skull | 2017 [SOLD]Feral cats kill millions of native Australian fauna every night with. Natives are ill-adapted to dealing with such effective predators, leading many, like the lesser Bilby [Macrotis leucura] to extinction. Not only are cats difficult to trap and averse to baiting, controlling populations faces resistance due to human attachment to their domestic counterparts. The piece also features a rabbit skull, which, when controlled independent of cat populations, increases predation of native species. These problems are multifaceted and interconnected and cannot be resolved in isolation.Featured native fauna: Eastern Quoll [Dasyurus viverrinus] [EN], Dusky hopping Mouse [Notomys fuscus] [V], Lesser stick-nest Rat [Leporillus apicalis] [Extinct].

RABBIT SKULL

ENDOPARASITE: Cat2024 | Cat skull, BLK paint, polymer and LED mushrooms

ENDOPARASITE: Dog2024 | Dog skull, BLK paint, polymer and LED mushrooms

ENDOPARASITE: Fox2024 | Fox skull, BLK paint, polymer and LED mushrooms

ENDOPARASITE: Rabbit2024 | Rabbit skull, BLK paint, polymer and LED mushrooms