!["Between poems, owner of Words Matter Bookstore and host Keryl Hausmann spoke, saying 'To listen to [poetry] is different than to read it.'" - Graphics Editor / Brendan Cohen](https://thewhitonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/IMG_0653.png)
“Aves Memento Mori: Exploring the Anthropogenic Effects on Bird Species” is the work of senior biomedical art and illustration major Christina Czajkowski. Currently on display in the Westby Student Gallery, the title translates from Latin to “remember the birds.” According to Czajkowski’s description of the exhibit, the human impact on avian survival was a key theme among her works.
“Bird species have been declining at an alarming rate due to anthropogenic activity,” Czajkowski said. “Currently one in eight bird species faces extinction while over 100 are already gone due to anthropogenic activity. My goal is to communicate to the viewer the staggering loss of life these past and future extinctions involve, along with showing the current effect of anthropogenic activity on extant species and in turn the overarching effect of declining bird species on ecological health. An attempt at connecting the viewer to extinct and extant species will be made by positioning these birds in compositions that are reminiscent of religious iconography, and have relation to prominent religious artwork from various periods of art history.”
According to Scientific American, the top ten most endangered bird species are the giant ibis, the New Caledonian owlet-nightjar, the California condor, the kakapo, the kagu, the Bengal florican, the forest owlet, the Philippine eagle, the Christmas Island frigatebird and the Sumatran ground-cuckoo.
Czajkowski’s main media is screen-printing and silkscreen with a self-described illustrative style.
An opening reception for this gallery will take place on Nov. 9 from 6-9 PM.
For questions/comments about this story, email arts@thewhitonline.com or tweet @TheWhitOnline.