“I feel that it’s irresponsible to beat the drums of revolution if you’re only half-informed.” — Christopher Reiger

A small sample of the images of the natural world, or rather the destruction of the natural world, gracing the walls of art spaces today feel like warnings being shouted in hopes that disaster might yet be averted. But so many others appear to reflect cynicism and celebration of cruelty’s surprising beauty, merely revealing how aesthetically interesting it can be to explore the narrative of impending ecological destruction and the doomed existence of animal and plant life. It is a bother to me that I cannot usually decide which is which, or how to feel about either.

The recent work of Christopher Reiger is an exception. Reiger’s paintings feature imagery of beasts and flora intermixed with symbols of technology, science, industrialization, and human presence. Although emanating a potent awareness of the state of affairs of our embattled ecosystem, his work feels less like a condemnation than an invitation to a deeper understanding of humanity’s community with nature.

(“Without Maps Or Manifest,” 2009, watercolor, gouache, sumi ink and marker on arches paper)

Visit Tikkun Daily’s Art Gallery for more of Christopher Reiger’s work.

Says Reiger:

Too often, I get the sense that the artist or activist doesn’t really have a handle on the situation. Too much of the “environmental art” that I see is a product of knee-jerk, superficial thinking. Gestures are important, but I’d like to see more work that acknowledges complex cause-and-effect relationships while still calling us to action. We are each of us responsible for what we put out there.

I don’t feel that I’m sounding an alarm with my artwork. I do hope that it serves as an invitation to look again not just at the other animal species with which we share the planet, but at everything. I believe that every individual thing is integrated into what I call, among other names, The Everything. I’m part of It, you’re part of It, a meteoroid in the asteroid belt is part of It, the keyboard I’m typing on is part of It, millions of galaxies that we don’t yet know of are part of It; there is spirit in this interconnectivity. Given the increasing division of contemporary life and work, as well as our seeming need for “busy-ness,” it’s easy to overlook the integral whole, but I remind myself regularly what a miraculous experience we’re a part of.

Though portrayed with reverence and dominating in their presence, the animal forms in Reiger’s images somehow do not feel like the “subject” of the work. There is a larger sense of nature being contextualized by science and/or humanity. This creates an uneasy feeling for me, as if nature’s intrinsic power and identity is being diminished by people. I feel worried for Reiger’s animals. But then I sense something of their pride and spiritual power and, in a sense, I become hopeful.

(“Submerged In His Erotic Mystification,” 2009, watercolor, gouache, sumi ink and marker on arches paper.)

Says Reiger:

I hope that not all of the animals in my artwork seem threatened or diminished, but I’d like to call into question our dualistic conceptions of nature and our species’ rather inconsiderate and arrogant relationship to the rest of it, seen and unseen. Is our hubris warranted? Where are we going and where do we want to go? These are “big” questions, but art is particularly good at wrestling with them.

Making art and looking at art are akin to meditation or prayer.

I am deeply disturbed by much about our contemporary culture because striving for a positive impact often seems like a Sisyphean enterprise.

Still, I hope that my work will re-enchant the lives of viewers. I’d like to think that my artwork does for the viewer what it does for me, which is to say that I hope it feeds their sense of wonder and gratitude, and that this emotional sustenance will fortify their resolve to act, in ways big and small, for good.

The challenges are many, and each of us is only one. But, thinking again of Sisyphus, I hold tight to Albert Camus’ conclusion. “The struggle itself is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”

(“Turned, To A Transparent Fire,” 2009, watercolor, gouache, acrylic, sumi ink and marker on arches paper)

Christopher Reiger donates a substantial portion of the sales of his work to non-profit charities working to make a positive impact on our world. To see more of Christopher Reiger’s artwork, visit the Tikkun Daily Art Gallery, or visit Christopher Reiger’s website, where you can also learn more about the artist’s Charitable Sales Model.