Featuring Michael Markham

We are delighted to feature the artist Mike Markham this week, who has contributed a number of “found” items to our Hunt! Categories he has responded to include: Lost Heart, Lost Opportunities, Lost Wings, and Lost Forest.

ARTIST BIO

“My first artistic epiphany occurred when I was taken, as a young teenager, to visit the caves of Lascaux. I've never recovered from the shock of that visit. I was living in Germany during my teenage years, hiking the Black Forest and the Alps, and these experiences were all leading me to a much deeper sense of myself in relation the natural world.

Nature has always been important to me. My earliest memory is of vines, butterflies, and bees in my mother's English garden. I've traveled a lot since then, especially in North America where I've developed a love for the American landscape, but also an awareness of how the natural world has been ravaged and degraded. As human beings we've plundered nature to a dangerous degree.

Among the images included here is that of a flag, made in 2007. I wanted to make a flag that would speak to environmental concerns and I stumbled upon this following story from the Ojibwa culture:

There was a man who decided to set fire to the marshes in an attempt to burn up the world. A blackbird that lived in the marshes saw him going about this task and cried out a warning to the other creatures. The man threw a shell at the bird and hit it on the wings, causing them to bleed. This is how the red-winged blackbird got its colors.

This worked for me on several levels. The red-winged blackbird has long been a favorite creature of mine, its call signaling the arrival of spring. In the above story its warning echoes current concerns that mankind is destroying the world. Coincidentally, I also discovered that the Ojibwa have a tradition of what are called "dream flags". My dream is that this bird's warning would resonate widely today.”

Michael Markham
Flag
Nylon
3x3 ft.

ABOUT MY PARTICIPATION

“Aviva Rahmani's art means to raise concerns about the degradation of our world, both physically and spiritually, and to promote the preservation and/or restoration of a life-enhancing environment. Dialogue and creative exchanges on these vital issues are essential as we press forward into an uncertain future. "Hunt for the Lost" is an opportunity to engage in such an exchange and I felt I couldn't let it pass. I urge others to also participate.”