VELIA DE IULIIS PAINTING

Velia De Iuliis paints harmonious arrangements of finely-rendered plants and wildlife, focusing primarily on endangered or threatened species. Flowers, plants, and animals appear to float or dance across sharply contrasted dark backgrounds, gently touching petal to leaf tip to beak to stem—a poetic statement on the delicate balance of ecosystems found in the natural world. By featuring these vulnerable life forms alongside local and recognizable flora, as well as plants that have historically been used for alternative healing, De Iuliis’ compositions offer various strategies to value the precariousness of life including empathy and stewardship in close dialogue with a rapidly changing planet.