Description
Commissioned by Novus International, Inc. as a generous gift to the Missouri Botanical Garden to commemorate the broad sweep of contributions made by Dr. Peter Raven. The work derives from a quote by Dr. Raven himself, ???…to master the diversity of living organisms and use the properties of those organisms as a kind of palette to build sustainability???. A profusion of diversity aligns on the equatorial regions of the world below the dome of the Climatron, while in the center pollinators create a vertical axis, dividing on the left – a suggestion of the Japanese garden that balances on the right – Dr. Raven???s 25 years of research in China. Overlaying the composition are swirls of Raven???s Manzanita and clarkia franciscana, curves of chemistry and biology book-ended by hands of the viewer that suggest our responsibility and the fragility of life on Earth. The first impression of the painting should be of boundless energy, like that of Dr. Peter, and Pat Raven – organized by an Art Deco influence favored by the Ravens.
