Rayna Li, The Cradle
2019
Watercolour, chalk colored pencil, and oil colored pencil on paper
42.0 x 29.7cm
When I encountered a dead bird in Vancouver’s forests, a starfish washed up
ashore, and even an otter on the beach next to my neighborhood, I felt
incredibly sad. But should I? When a creature dies in its habitat, its spirit reunites
with the earth and the sky; it rests in the same cradle from which it came. But
what about the birds halted mid-air by electric fences, the whale corpses with
plastic in their guts, and the tigers dying of malnutrition in private zoos? Where
are their cradles?
This work is inspired by the practice of Teagan White.