Jennifer Celio: Species in Danger
Community Gallery, September 11 – December 11, 2025
Jennifer Celio: Species in Danger features thirteen delicately-rendered graphite portraits of federally endangered species native to Southern California. Reflecting on the human-made causes of pervasive ecological decline, each endangered creature is depicted alongside a “toxic” sociocultural element that, in the artist’s view, should instead be on the path to extinction, such as suburban sprawl, environmental racism, factory farming, and the denial of trans rights.
Celio is dedicated to completing drawings of each of the 145 federally endangered animals native to Southern California, where she resides. Celio’s commitment to the scale of this project begs the question: are we, too, willing to face head-on the realities of climate crisis? Can we overcome the grief and anxiety prompted by rapid and widespread loss of animal kin and take action? In their painstakingly detailed execution, Celio’s drawings are a potent metaphor for the attentiveness and care that healing our relationship to the natural environment requires.
Images:
(1) Jennifer Celio, Species In Danger: Casey's June beetle: Manifest Destiny, 2024. Graphite on wood panel. 16 x 12 inches. Courtesy of Jennifer Celio. Funding has been made possible by The Puffin Foundation, Ltd. © Jennifer Celio. Photography by Alan Shaffer.
(2) Jennifer Celio, Species In Danger: Blue Whale: Cheap and Disposable, 2023. Graphite on wood panel. 16 x 12 inches. Courtesy of Jennifer Celio. Funding has been made possible by The Puffin Foundation, Ltd. © Jennifer Celio. Photography by Alan Shaffer.
(3) Jennifer Celio, Species in Danger: Palos Verdes blue butterfly: Denial of Trans(cendence), 2024. Graphite on wood panel. 16 x 12 inches. Courtesy of Jennifer Celio. Funding has been made possible by The Puffin Foundation, Ltd. © Jennifer Celio. Photography by Alan Shaffer.
All artwork copyright the artist.
