Page 26 - Dark Matter Issue5 Part II

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The following interview with Maruyama appeared in Art Newspaper:

I have had a lifelong fascination with wild animals ever since I was a child. My first work

related to wildlife was in homage to Ben, the last living Tasmanian Tiger — these

animals were hunted with no justification whatsoever. By the time they put a ban on

hunting these creatures, they were already on the brink of extinction and it was too late.

http://wendymaruyama.com/artwork/173482-Y ou-don-t-know-what-you-ve-got-til-its-

gone.html

What is your relationship with the ivory trade/animal conservation?

Only that it became a personal cause —wild animals, without any action by humans are

defenseless: at the current rate we will have lost 30% to 50% of species by mid-century.

This is an alarming statistic considering the current crisis is being caused entirely by

humans. Ninety-nine percent of currently threatened species are at risk from human

activities, primarily those driving habitat loss, introduction of exotic species, and global

warming.

How does this series mark a departure from your earlier work?

This work moved laterally from the realm of social justice to environmental causes. The

previous work was intended to bring a very dark part of American History (the Japanese

American Incarceration during WWII) to life — and it affected my own family very

directly. It was also very relevant in terms of what was happening now, with all the post

9/11 anti-Muslim rhetoric, the anti-immigration laws, and this remains sadly relevant

today. We have clearly not learned anything.