Painting for the preservation of biodiversity

Like the death of every living creature, the extinction of entire species is part of nature. However, human activity has threatened an extremely high number of animal, fungus, and plant species, far exceeding the natural process. In her series Fading Life, completed in 2022, artist Elvira Flamm addresses the acceleration of species extinction caused by humans. Forty paintings represent the approximately 40,000 species listed as threatened worldwide. The animals, plants, and fungi, painted in acrylic in a lifelike manner, are covered in the paintings by veils of different colors. The color of the veil indicates the species, its width the degree of threat. The European eel, for example, shown in the picture above, is threatened with extinction due to overfishing, while the plant Crocus cyprius, shown in the picture below, is considered endangered, mainly due to fires.  Flamm is exhibiting a total of eight works from this series at the Charity Art Gallery in Stockholm. The opening of the group exhibition, which also features works by Christin Farr and Krister Björklund, will take place on November 14 at 5 p.m., followed by the exhibition running until November 27. Ten percent of each sale will be donated to the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). The artist herself will contribute an additional 20 percent.

Elvira Flamm is an extremely versatile artist who adapts her medium to the chosen theme and also likes to experiment with unusual materials. She constantly explores the conflicts between nature and culture. Her work has been particularly influenced by the 16 years she spent living in Suriname. These life experiences opened up new perspectives on life for her. Flamm's creative process does not follow a fixed structure: some works are created strictly according to concept, others spontaneously. Most of her works are part of a series. In addition to Fading Life, she addresses the problems of the fast pace of media images in Icons Without Names and reminds us in Life of the importance of rarely noticed life forms such as algae and microorganisms.