Both Ryden and the collector who commissioned the original had been on the Creatura safari. In the painting, Ryden depicts creatures whose appearance blurs the line between reality and fantasy. Joining them in this leafy, pink and green landscape is a young woman who looks on with wonder at the peaceful scene.
“The animals in the new print are all absolutely fantastical—but a couple are inspired by animals we saw while traveling together in Kenya—such as elephants and giant snails,” says Anderson. “The environment seems to me to be a classic Ryden-esque edenic landscape. It’s very much a ‘peaceable kingdom’ image, which is not always the case in real life! The person and animals are all around a Merkaba—a symbol of spiritual ascension and divine connection—which are things you very much feel in moments when immersed in the wild.”
The whimsical image also speaks to the real need to reconnect humans with nature. “I think there’s a real sense of loss within humans that we have lost a connection to nature and animals as fellow, equal beings that the earth belongs to just as much as us. Sadly, that’s not the case now and humans wreck so much for other species (and wreck our own mental health by destroying the planet),” says Anderson. “But there are people who care and are doing what they can to find solutions to the mass extinction event that’s happening around us. Any action is needed—I encourage anyone to get creatively involved if they feel compelled to do so—we all need you!”*
For full information on the Creatura limited edition lithographic benefit poster being releases October 14th, including edition size and release details, see Porterhouse here.
