Driven to Tears (S lender Loris)

16×20” oil painting on canvas

The Slender Loris.

In this painting, I have put a loris in a teardrop that is shared by two eyes. The eyes make up two separate lorises, but if you look again you will see that the two eyes make up an ADDITIONAL loris, with its mouth under the teardrop. The Slender Loris has a population which is steadily declining for many reasons, one of which is that it is killed for its tears which are believed by locals to have medicinal purposes. The tear is a focal point in this painting because it is a reason the population is declining, and there is another loris suspended in the teardrop. The lorises will soon be extinct if we don’t intervene.

This animal is on the FOCAL list of Edge of Existence Species, which means it was in the top 10 list for 2007. Its habitat is declining and it is killed for meat. If you would like to learn more about the Slender Loris and other species in decline, please visit http://www.edgeofexistence.org/mammals/species_info.php?id=22