"Danielle Burford"

The pristine and meticulous works of Burford strive to achieve harmony between creature and environment, between past and present, and between art and reality. Abstract backgrounds that minimally resemble real habitats, if at all, peer through the translucent or transparent skin of creatures, whose organs and consumed meals one can sometimes see. The beauty of a given creature borrows from and is inspired by its surroundings. The two-dimensionality of both environment and animal puts them on relatively equal footing. In about half the pieces, the relationship between environment and animal is impartially balanced to the point where the two are hardly separable, while in the other half the regally garbed animal is clearly the lead role.

Creatures serve as canvasses and the recognizable qualities of her reptiles, moths and fish all but vanish under ornate decoration, yet it is important for Burford to include Australian fauna in her work. What is valued is laden with gems. Just as Burford deals with subjects that have waned in prominence in art, she practices an art that, if not dying, is certainly past its heyday. Though putting herself in a position beset with challenges, she proceeds optimistically.

-Eugene Hwang