Lush Life

Despite living on opposite sides of the globe, wildlife artists GABRIELA EZCURRA and KATE MORGAN share a love of painting exotic creatures in verdant settings.

- Martha Alexander

The tropical jungle – a place of density, heat, color and often danger. Perhaps these attributes are why this environment has always been such a draw for painters. Capturing all of that life is quite the challenge.

Henri Rousseau is probably the most famous artist who has ever painted a jungle – his name instantly conjuring up images of palms and tigers and orange flowers blazing like flames in the midst of abundant greenery.

Yet Rousseau famously never set foot in a jungle. He never even saw one from afar. Instead “Le Douanier” – the customs officer, as the French painter was known in a nod to his day job – worked from his imagination.

This is a concept that will be familiar to Kate Morgan, whose paintings are a seductive blend of the hyperreal and the fantasy, using densely inhabited natural habitats like jungles or deep seas as a backdrop. Despite embracing elements of the surreal, she researches her subject matter meticulously. Only once she has a firm grip on reality does she allow herself to incorporate anything imaginary.

Cheerful, celebratory and packed with color and texture, Kate’s work shines a particular light on indigenous and endangered species, many of which are found in the world’s jungles. Chameleons, parrots, and leopards jostle for attention. There is the feeling, when looking at her work, that Kate is showcasing much of this world in all of its glory, issuing a stark picture of all we stand to lose if we don’t change how we treat our planet.