ARTIST STATEMENT
"Flora and Fauna" combines photographs of suburban front yards and of fake fauna to examine our society's anxious relationship with the natural world. Photographs of shaped hedges, cultivated flowerbeds, and stone-rimmed water features attest to the homeowner's desire to produce manageable simulations of nature. Stuffed raccoons, nut-cracking squirrels, and tie-dyed bats evidence a need to contain troublesome or scary creatures that threaten to disrupt domestic security. Embedded texts from gardening guidebooks provide clear instruction for the design and reconstruction of the natural world. "Flora and Fauna" explores humanities troubled relationship with the environment in a manner that is whimsical yet analytic.

ARTIST BIO Jeanette May received her MFA in Photography from CalArts and her BFA in Painting from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She has been awarded grants and fellowships from the NEA Regional Artists Projects Fund, Illinois Arts Council, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, and Ms. Foundation. Her work is exhibited in galleries and museums internationally, including New York; Washington DC; Chicago; Los Angeles; Toronto, Canada; and Athens, Greece. She teaches at the International Center of Photography in NY and lives in Brooklyn.

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