Shark Series

My fear and obsessive interest in Great White sharks influenced this work. My interest was sparked by a resurgence in the shark population around Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. It occurred to me that the lack of scientific research about sharks, and the lack of widespread access to the knowledge that did exist, influenced the monstrous forms depicted in paintings such as John Singleton Copley’s “Watson and the Shark” and Phillip Evergood’s “Rubber Raft.” This lead to an image of the shark that is characterized by its most frightening features –blood red lips and hundreds of bright white triangular teeth, in sharp contrast to the black abyss of the shark’s throat. Though research has progressed since Copley’s 1778 representation or Evergood’s 1945 interpretation, our collective knowledge of the Great White is still coupled with palpable fear, and still many of the species’ habits remain a mystery even to those that study them. My sharks are depicted breeching and are essentially a mouth with many sharply contrasted white teeth popping out from a pitch-black background, depicting fascination heightened by fear.