When they come for me, I'll be gone

archiemcphee:

We’re terribly fond of the paintings by artist Kristin Tercek. You may recall that we’ve posted some of her awesome work a few times before.

So we were delighted when we learned that Kristin created a painting for the upcoming Sea No Evil Art Show in Riverside, CA. The group show, which opens this Saturday, June 30th, benefits the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Wonderful works of art created to benefit such a good cause culminates in a whole lot of awesomeness.

Kristin’s painting, entitled Bunga Bangkai (acrylic on wood), is based on the Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the titan arum or corpse flower. These flowers can grow to a whopping height of ten feet and, when blooming, smell of rotting mammal flesh. They even heat up to mimic the temperature of a decaying body. All this unpleasantness attracts the scavenging insects (carrion-eating beetles and flesh flies) that pollinate this pungent plant. Good grief, nature is so awesome! The corpse flower comes from the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the painting’s title, “Bunga Bankai”, means corpse flower in Indonesian. 

We’ve had the stinky privilege of encountering one of these remarkable plants in person while it was blooming at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, and can verify that they really are enormous and unforgettably rank. P.U.!

But this painting is as cute and delightful as the flower is fetid. We’re suckers for anthropomorphism and Kristin Tercek has demonstrated once again that she’s had a gift for revealing the personalities of all wonderful things, be they edible, animal, fantastic or, well, flowers that smell like rotten dead things.