Artist Paints Endangered Species As Icons Because 'everything is sacred.'

There’s a glittering hummingbird mid-flutter, a flamingo tucked within its feathers, and a loggerhead sea turtle floating in the water.

These gentle, striking images are part of a series of paintings by New York artist Angela Manno. They are a series of more than a dozen threatened and endangered species painted in the style of Byzantine icons. This "Endangered Species" series explores the environmental crisis and extinction, Manno says. 

Manno’s work has been featured at the Smithsonian Institution, the American Museum of Natural History, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. It’s also part of the NASA space art collection at the Kennedy Space Center.

Manno talked to Treehugger via email about her art and what she hopes people will take away from it.

Artist paints icons of endangered species to 'foster ecological conversion'

The panther's greenish eyes, staring directly at the viewer, are hypnotic. Caught in a moment of calm, etched against a golden background, it seems to be waiting. But this is no ordinary painting. . . .

The Soul of the Moment: Inner Vision for Systemic Change

“There is much consideration of the physical and biological modes of survival with relatively little comment on the soul of the future. Here we are mainly concerned with the ‘soul’ as the shaping spirit within any vital process. These, the inner spirit and the outer form, are two distinctive aspects of a single mode of being. In considering the soul of the future, I am concerned with the inner vision that we need if we are to make the intellectual, social, economic, and religious adjustments required for a viable future.” — Thomas Berry

As an artist, environmental activist and lover of the world, my aim is to touch the hearts of my viewers and expand human consciousness. It has always been so, although today, it is an urgent task, because we need a metanoia — a complete change of heart, mind and way of life —  and to transition as quickly as possible from toxic anthropocentrism towards a biocentric norm of reference.

Angela Manno – Icons of Threatened and Endangered Species

I’ve been a professional artist for forty years. During that time, I’ve always focused my work on what is highest in the human spirit and on the beauty of this world. They have taken the shape of landscapes, space scapes, and traditional and contemporary icons.

Angela Manno-Feature: The Artful Mind, the premier art magazine of the Berkshires

This nine-page color spread on my art in The Artful Mind magazine, the premier art magazine of the Berkshires, is a comprehensive treatment of my entire œuvre including my Smithsonian mixed media art series, my landscapes in oils, encaustic and pastels, and the beginnings of my series of icons of threatened and endangered species in egg tempera and gold-leaf on wood.