Four years of erasing drawings for Extinction Studies comes to an end

For the past four years, Tasmanian artist Dr Lucienne Rickard has been drawing extinct or endangered species at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) as part of Extinction Studies that concludes today.

Each drawing gets erased as soon as it's completed, representing the fragility of so many species and the issue of extinction. This process of drawing and erasure, or evolution and extinction, is repeated in full knowledge that the paper will deteriorate and eraser shavings will accumulate.

Dr Rickard has spent six hours a day at TMAG over the past four years of Extinction Studies - a fusion of art, science, performance and activism. She has drawn and erased 60 species using just three pieces of paper, erasing the species then drawing another over the top, with only traces of past creatures seen.

Some of the drawings have taken three months to draw with incredible detail such as the extinct Xerces blue butterfly from California.

"I talk to people about whatever I'm drawing and I try and tell them as much about the species as I've learnt," Dr Rickard said. "The only thing I can say for sure is that I've had thousands and thousands of conversations with people about species they've often never heard about and issues they're now aware of."

Dr Rickard came up with the Extinction Studies project after she watched a documentary about the state of Australia's environment. "I felt really rattled by how many species we were losing and the fact that we were leading the world in mammal extinctions," she said.

"While I am wrapping up this project, we need to keep focus on the issue, as we are still seeing far too many extinctions and species moving into the critically endangered category."

The critically endangered red handfish is Dr Rickard's final species, found only in waters off south-east Tasmania. She has drawn 100 individual red handfish to symbolise how many are left in the wild.

"I love tiny species that we neglect to look at closely, because there's so much beauty and interest in the world that human beings miss a lot of the time," Dr Rickard said.

Jane Stewart, Principal Curator of Art at TMAG, said Extinction Studies had proved to be hugely popular with visitors. "People really connected emotionally with this project, the fragility of species and the environment, and were inspired to take action in their own lives," Ms Stewart said.

"People loved being able to chat with Lucienne while she was drawing. Extinction Studies has been a special fusion of art, science, performance and activism at TMAG."

The final erasing of 100 critically endangered red handfish will take place at TMAG on Friday, 15th December at 12:30pm. Members of the public are welcome to attend and witness the end of Extinction Studies.

Extinction Studies was commissioned by Detached Cultural Organisation and presented by TMAG.

Background

The project title Extinction Studies deliberately merges art and science, a ‘study’ being both a technical art term – for a drawing or sketch done in preparation – and more generally understood as the practice of devoting time and attention to understanding a topic.

As an artist, Dr Rickard has crafted a career through drawing yet she remains deeply concerned about the future of biodiversity and the natural world.

Extinction Studies was originally conceived as a twelve-month durational performance by Dr Rickard, highlighting the critical issue of species extinction.

The first iteration of the project ran from 6 September 2019, and was extended following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic until 24 January 2021. Dr Rickard recommenced Extinction Studies at TMAG in 2022 and the project wraps up in December 2023.