Art Assignment Year 12 Jasmine CooperContemporary artists around the world have discovered the aesthetic qualities of natural and man-made resources and incorporate them to represent the environment and its characteristics within their work. Miguel Payano, Al Ouchtomsky and Lorenzo Duran are just three artists who explore the wonders of the environment in their diverse works, across a variety of media areas and personal interpretations of the world around them. The following essay will analyze a piece by each of the three artists and evaluate how the central focus "Environment" is supported. Miguel Payano is an artist strongly influenced by Chinese culture despite his American background. “Koicocks” is a collection of paintings he produced featuring a combination of koi and peacock fish; two auspicious creatures who are often depicted with great poise. 'Pied Asagi and Shusui with Ladybug' (2013) demonstrates his talent with an oil on canvas landscape and scales up to a large 100 x 200 cm. By painting the Koicock white, you symbolize the innocence and composure of these two animals and is in stark contrast to the soft, dusty pink of the trees and sunset. Also, in contrast to white and pink, the use of black in the foreground allows the bird to be the center of attention. The symmetrical balance of the artwork displayed within the placement of the Koicock, is complemented by textured scales, feathers and leaves, giving this piece a three-dimensional shape. The unity of these elements represented Chinese culture and the environment of which Payano takes this creature would have been seen. Because he followed the stylistic guidelines of Chinese art to make the audience assume that it is a Chinese... middle of paper... that we create. Ultimately, these three artworks portray the vast expanse an artist can explore in relation to the environment. Miguel Payano, Al Ouchtomsky and Lorenzo Duran each produced a piece that reflects the environment in very different media and through the use of their own technical expertise. By creating their own creatures, Payano and Ouchtomsky showed the heights an artist's imagination can reach. Furthermore, by carving the leaf in a way that reflects the state of the environment, viewers around the world are able to recognize human interactions and will be continually intrigued by Lorenzo Duran's work. Because there is still so much to explore in the environment, artists like these will continue to make significant works that impact a wide range of audiences. Be it assemblage or leaf cut sculptures,