The art of
Collin Douma
the art of
COLLIN DOUMA
United Fauna
United Fauna began with five paintings I made for "Roll Call," a group show with the Five Lovely Guys Collective at Twist Gallery in Toronto, 2012. Researching the work, I found Archie Belaney, an Englishman who fabricated an Indigenous identity and became known as Grey Owl. Despite the deception, his conservation writing helped save the Canadian beaver from extinction. I thought he could have used an air force. Those five watercolor and ink paintings became the Grey Owl Air Force. The collection kept growing from there.
United Fauna follows animals that salvage discarded human technology and turn it against the forces working to destroy them: human aggression, habitat loss, a changing climate.
"His (work) may appear whimsical at first glance, but they ultimately serve as apocalyptic warnings of the future that awaits if humanity fails to curb the accelerating dangers of climate change."
Nicole Goldberg, Executive Director, WAAM
Amphibious Nature
Red-Eyed Tree Frog // Ford GPA "Seep"
She navigates degraded corridors where the water runs wrong
and the air smells like someone's quarterly earnings.
Velocity Raptor
Great Horned Owl // GeeBee Model R
No pilot error. No stall warning. No mercy.
In these woods, stillness is the only disguise left.
Roadkill
Nine-banded Armadillo // Sherman Tank
Evolution is slow. Cars are fast.
Escape From New York
Western Gorilla // Ollis Staten Island Ferry
His instinct knows the way home, as a tree knows where the light is.
Charlie Foxtrot
Northern White Rhino // FAST Tactical Helmet
That's not fear in his eye. That's the thousand-yard stare of a species on its last mile.
Olive of Ashokan
Snapping Turtle // Bucyrus Steam Shovel
Every year, she must cross the same gauntlets, human boundaries, roads, and tracks, just to lay her eggs.
Running From Inlé
Black-tailed Jackrabbit // HD "Liberator"
He has nowhere to be, and spends his lifetime getting there as fast as possible.
UFS Barnacle
Blue Whale // Type VII U-boat
To him, every whaler is another Ahab who's taking things too far.
UFS Papillon
American Croc // Aircraft Carrier
He has been a god, a monster, and a nuisance. He has outlasted all the myths.
He'll outlast this one too.
Bingo Bongo
Mountain Bongo // Landrover
Outsmart, outrun, or outlast the tourist hunters, or it's bingo for the Bongos.
Princes with Swift Warning
Rabbits // Harley Davidson
All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies
Grey Owl
Grey Owl // GeeBee Air Racer
Air cover for Grey Owl's beavers.