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Last May we were driving out in
eastern Oregon with a wildlife biologist friend Larry on an
expedition to watch sage grouse courtship rituals. On a desolate
road past the tiny town of Brothers we noticed in the distance a lot
of aerial activity concentrated in one spot. We drove over there and
soon saw that it was a big group of ravens and vultures and as we
got closer we saw they were feasting on a dead cow. It was amazing
to see, lively and noisy…. the ravens calling their friends in with
their hoarse croaks and happy squwacks. There was a coyote there too
and brightly colored carrion beetles enjoying the food as well.
It was a joyful banquet for nature’s clean up crew.
I decided then and there that when I die I don’t want to go into a
coffin but want my body to be food for my favorite flying friends.
Or to go back to the earth as a token of my appreciation of the wild
that inspires my life and my paintings.
I began researching vultures and have become completed entranced by
their amazing role in our world. They are the perfect recyclers. I
discovered that in parts of Tibet and some of the Parsi of India
engage in what is known as sky burials… where they do exactly this…
the body is offered up on a special burial site and the white backed
vultures swoop down for supper. It is considered an honor, a last
act of charity.
Recently we have started bringing dead animals that we find back to
our house to attract vultures. I was already bringing small things
for the ravens but when you bring a larger animal you can’t imagine
how the banquet grows. Its thrilling to look up and see the vultures
circling above like angels in their feathered gowns. I decided to do
a painting of me dead being eaten by these noble caretakers. But as
I was working on it, I was feeling so overwhelmed by the direction
our country has gone that I found myself creating this painting
instead, as a response to my feelings about what our leaders have
done to our world, our environment.
Irene Olivieri |
