Is There Room For The Coyote?

Is There Room for the Coyote?

Jim Weaver, Biography

Jim Weaver grew up among the tree-lined streets of Syracuse, New York; on the edge of state forests, farmers’ fields, and the region’s wetlands. His interest in nature and the outdoors led to a 38-year-long-career in environmental restoration, following degrees in forestry and engineering. Along the way, he began tooling leather as a project with his son. Over 20 years, he’s expanded traditional western motifs to include historical events, social and environmental commentary. Lately he developed techniques to use tooled leather as a printmaking matrix, bringing a unique set of marks to paper; thus linking the age-old practice of relief printing with western-style leather work. On the basis of this work, he was invited as artist-in-residence at four national parks: the Petrified Forest, Homestead, Joshua Tree, and Valles Caldera. His work has been shown in New York City, London, France, China, Mexico, Texas, California, and of course Oklahoma.

Synopsis

The coyote is a cunning animal that evolved in challenging environments as a secondary predator beneath wolves. Coyotes are unpredictable; they are known to hunt cooperatively with badgers, but sometimes cheat them out of their prey. Coyotes are the tricksters in Native stories, often selfish and mean-spirited. They are used in modern stories as well; Wile E. Coyote shows the trickster’s cunning, but is outwitted by the roadrunner. These characters match our social yet individualistic human nature; with both positive and negative aspects. But in our domination of the earth, we make the environment more challenging for wildlife and for our fellow humans. Environments that are harsh to begin with become more challenging from human actions, including climate modification. This is the backdrop for “Is There Room for the Coyote?” a collection of photographs, scientific data, tooled leatherwork, banners, video, and block prints. The show touches on animals as elements of the natural world, the challenging situations they face, and human-induced drivers of change. Sometimes the coyote is used as a stand-in for us, the very humans that make the environment challenging.

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