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The 100 Marine Fish Manifesto
We honor the magnificent beauty of 100 marine fish that represent our biodiverse planet and the abundance of our sacred oceans. We fight against the horrendous abuses in the global marine aquarium industry that poisons coral reefs and ravages fish populations that end in death in the tanks of uninformed hobbyists.
We are “world citizens”, living and belonging to many places real and imaginary simultaneously without wound, loss or contradiction. We move in earth's waters as our authentic selves, beyond the nets of specific locations, constructed labels, borders, and categories. We celebrate the ideal and necessity of our cosmopolitanism, the ease of plurality and bountiful diversification of life.
Q&A with Julie
Why fish?
During this pandemic, fish that seemed to express what I was feeling, a kind of underwater, swimming around but muted not in the air, holding my breath.
As I started really looking at photos of marine fish in books and online, I became mesmerized. These marine fish are extraordinary in their variety and fantastic colors and are meant to be celebrated as we do for birds, butterflies and flowers. Their colors and shapes are fantastically, insanely heart-stoppingly beautiful.
I have always been keenly aware of the presence of fish in lakes, ponds, rivers and the ocean. As I grew up on Long Island, fishing was a common activity, and I was constantly by a river, pond or at the beach. I spent a lot of time looking at fish in my tank, a book, my friend’s aquarium or at the local Billy B's Aquarium in my town. At first, I had a 20 gallon goldfish tank. As I got older, I had a tropical fish tank that became a kind of guppy hatchery. I was seeking ones with purple, blue, orange, magenta hued iridescent tails as in my Dr. Alexrod guppy handbook.
Awareness of Coral Reef Destruction and abuses of the Aquarium trade, and the carnage of the “by-catch” in the Fishing Industry
These days, I am increasingly aware of the horrible marine aquarium business that empties our oceans of these fish to end up dead in hobby tanks and the coral reef destruction that is done to capture prize fish for the aquarium trade. This is something I in no way want to promote ever. I’m also aware that many of the babies of these fish are the “by-catch” of fishing that is after other fish for human consumption. That saddens me greatly, and it’s been a long time that I have not wanted to eat fish. Not only for the contaminants, but also for how they are caught and the devastation of our oceans inhabitants. Honestly, I would tell everyone– let’s do our planet and oceans a favor- let’s just please try to forget about eating fish unless it’s farm raised on land like - tilapia or carp.
How I paint
I like to paint with a playful and extravagant use of color. I use lots of paint and lavish brushwork. Sometimes I layer in marking to add a textural component like it’s a textile or weaving or embroidery because I like to connect myself to these traditions. Each fish has its own unique personality and jewel-like persona. I don’t know who I’m going to meet. It's an homage and prayer to this fish deity, an anima of nature, astonishing and evoking of wonder, not to be forgotten or taken for granted.
How did you come to this theme of Cosmopolitanism for your fish paintings?
As I read about these marine fish, I was surprised that many of them are found off the coasts of vastly different parts of the oceans so beyond our land-based nation states. At the same time, I was watching Edmund de Waal and Adam Gopnik speaking about Letters to Camondo for the Jewish Museum (May 20, 2021) and they mentioned Cosmopolitanism, being a citizen of the world, belonging without contradiction. I identified immediately because I have long felt cultural, diaspora and expat tensions within myself that were instantly erased once I grasped this concept which I integrated happily and immediately to my fish paintings.
We honor the magnificent beauty of 100 marine fish that represent our biodiverse planet and the abundance of our sacred oceans. We fight against the horrendous abuses in the global marine aquarium industry that poisons coral reefs and ravages fish populations that end in death in the tanks of uninformed hobbyists.
We are “world citizens”, living and belonging to many places real and imaginary simultaneously without wound, loss or contradiction. We move in earth's waters as our authentic selves, beyond the nets of specific locations, constructed labels, borders, and categories. We celebrate the ideal and necessity of our cosmopolitanism, the ease of plurality and bountiful diversification of life.
Q&A with Julie
Why fish?
During this pandemic, fish that seemed to express what I was feeling, a kind of underwater, swimming around but muted not in the air, holding my breath.
As I started really looking at photos of marine fish in books and online, I became mesmerized. These marine fish are extraordinary in their variety and fantastic colors and are meant to be celebrated as we do for birds, butterflies and flowers. Their colors and shapes are fantastically, insanely heart-stoppingly beautiful.
I have always been keenly aware of the presence of fish in lakes, ponds, rivers and the ocean. As I grew up on Long Island, fishing was a common activity, and I was constantly by a river, pond or at the beach. I spent a lot of time looking at fish in my tank, a book, my friend’s aquarium or at the local Billy B's Aquarium in my town. At first, I had a 20 gallon goldfish tank. As I got older, I had a tropical fish tank that became a kind of guppy hatchery. I was seeking ones with purple, blue, orange, magenta hued iridescent tails as in my Dr. Alexrod guppy handbook.
Awareness of Coral Reef Destruction and abuses of the Aquarium trade, and the carnage of the “by-catch” in the Fishing Industry
These days, I am increasingly aware of the horrible marine aquarium business that empties our oceans of these fish to end up dead in hobby tanks and the coral reef destruction that is done to capture prize fish for the aquarium trade. This is something I in no way want to promote ever. I’m also aware that many of the babies of these fish are the “by-catch” of fishing that is after other fish for human consumption. That saddens me greatly, and it’s been a long time that I have not wanted to eat fish. Not only for the contaminants, but also for how they are caught and the devastation of our oceans inhabitants. Honestly, I would tell everyone– let’s do our planet and oceans a favor- let’s just please try to forget about eating fish unless it’s farm raised on land like - tilapia or carp.
How I paint
I like to paint with a playful and extravagant use of color. I use lots of paint and lavish brushwork. Sometimes I layer in marking to add a textural component like it’s a textile or weaving or embroidery because I like to connect myself to these traditions. Each fish has its own unique personality and jewel-like persona. I don’t know who I’m going to meet. It's an homage and prayer to this fish deity, an anima of nature, astonishing and evoking of wonder, not to be forgotten or taken for granted.
How did you come to this theme of Cosmopolitanism for your fish paintings?
As I read about these marine fish, I was surprised that many of them are found off the coasts of vastly different parts of the oceans so beyond our land-based nation states. At the same time, I was watching Edmund de Waal and Adam Gopnik speaking about Letters to Camondo for the Jewish Museum (May 20, 2021) and they mentioned Cosmopolitanism, being a citizen of the world, belonging without contradiction. I identified immediately because I have long felt cultural, diaspora and expat tensions within myself that were instantly erased once I grasped this concept which I integrated happily and immediately to my fish paintings.