Princess and the Fishing Net (Yangtze River Dolphin)

20×16” oil painting on canvas

The Yangtze River dolphin is now commonly believed to be extinct due to gilly nets and dredging. Varied folklore told of the dolphin being the reincarnation or embodiment of a princess who was drowned by her stepfather for refusing to marry a man she didn’t love. Many who saw the dolphiin when it existed attested to its graceful manner in the water.

This painting is an abstraction of the princess within the dolphin (or perhaps she’s swimming along on top of it, depending on your interpretation) and the lack of aggressive activity in China to save this species from extinction. It is also commonly referred to as the White Flag Dolphin, as many translators agree that “flag” and “fin” are the same in the chinese language. I made the dorsal fin of the dolphin into the flag of China to showcase who is at fault for the extinction of this species.