Flowers and Fossils

Struthiomimus and Tulip
oil on panel
David Dodge Lewis, Evolution Series

A series of still life paintings playing on the relationship between fossils and modern organisms, and featuring especially well-rendered flowers. The show opens March 28 at the Atkinson Museum, Hampden-Sydney College, Virginia (where David Dodge Lewis is Professor of Fine Arts), in conjunction with a four-day Biology Symposium.

The Evolution Series treats a topic fundamental to our understanding of life. It does so by celebrating fossils, the most important empirical evidence for evolution. Since fossils are often of bones, the paintings are eulogies, and the inclusion of flowers both emphasizes the fragile brevity of life and connects to present day rituals, like flowers at a memorial service.

– David Dodge Lewis