Persian Leopard Cubs
Oil on canvas, shortlisted for Wildlife Artist of the Year
A beautifully intricate piece to raise awareness of the endangered Persian Leopard, to splash out against Islamophobia and to celebrate the richness of cultural diversity.
“The fluffy leopard cubs are playful and agile, bounding with energy. In their natural habitat the Persian leopard will have 2 – 4 cubs at a time and I wanted to paint the cubs healthy, but to allude to something rather sad. In the painting they are moving away from a point on the canvas where the image itself starts to disappear. The fierce red is both beautiful against the contrasting greens and acts as a warning to both the cubs and viewers. The fear of what might be lost if we do not start to act and think differently was a message in the painting that I wanted to bring out. They are endangered. In 2008, there were an estimated 871–1,290 mature leopards of which 550–850 lived in Iran; and numbers are still declining.
The patterns, warm colours and textures are so delicious, with worn areas and handmade mistakes which all added to their authenticity. I wanted to capture all of this in this piece, as well as the wealth of Iran’s cultural history, with the colours of the national flag and traditional patterns.”