Margot McMahon Awe (2024)

Margot McMahon
Awe (2024)
Technique Mixte Oil on Canvas
7” X 7”
$1,750

Hawaii’s Indigenous Endangered Birds
During a family vacation to Oahu in 2021, McMahon sketched endangered birds indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands. Returning to her studio, McMahon painted the birds through her Technique Mixte process. When the fires broke out in Maui in 2023, her painted birds took on special meaning as symbolic indicators of our earth’s fragile ecosystems. Her series of endangered indigenous birds brings awareness to the human and environmental factors that threaten avian populations in the Hawaiian Islands.

Awe (Akeke): Rats, Cats, pigs consume eggs and chicks or destroy the Awe habitats. Mosquito borne diseases like Avian Malaria and pox severely impact native species with no resistance. Deforestation, agriculture and urbanization reduce feeding and nesting sites. Light pollution is also a factor as well as a small fraction of federal funding for endangered birds.