Orleonok Pitkin continues his exploration of “Mute Songbirds” with works that investigate threatened bird populations found in Oregon. The critical depletion occurring to these vulnerable creatures gives rise to a worldly loss. Noticing changes in his own backyard, Pitkin sensed something missing within the environment and began to research current extinction theories. The artist combines sight, sound and context to express the dislocation felt from this complex and irreparable situation. Creating encaustic and charcoal drawings of silhouettes, he evokes primitive references, and pairs these with the sounds of birds to trigger memory that builds a connection to what has become lost.
Orleonok Pitkin is a native Oregonian and teaches at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. His work is represented in many collections including the Seattle Art Museum; the Portland Art Museum; the Federal Reserve Bank, San Francisco; and the Contemporary Art Center, Honolulu, Hawaii. He has had numerous exhibitions and completed several public commissions along the West Coast.