Art That's Even Smarter Than It Is Beautiful

Art can do more than inspire. It can intervene.

I’m known as The Invasive Species Artist. I create abstract paintings on leather made from invasive lionfish, Burmese pythons, and carp. I don’t make art about environmental threats. I make art from them.

Each piece begins with material produced through invasive-species removal, transforming ecological intervention into lasting beauty.

These works are collectible fine art. The ecological story is embedded in the material itself. Learning about it is optional. You can simply choose the work for its beauty, and let that be enough.
Detail of Just Before the Stars painted on invasive lionfish leather by Laura Shape
Detail of Golden Hour painted on invasive carp leather by Laura Shape

Removal Creates the Medium. Art Creates the Demand.

Invasive species are removed through fisheries, wildlife-management programs, and other ecosystem-protection efforts. Their skins are processed into leather rather than discarded.

I purchase that leather and transform it into original paintings. When collectors acquire the work, their purchase allows me to buy more invasive-species leather, creating market demand that helps fund continued removal.

Removing invasive species gives native wildlife and habitats a better opportunity to recover.

The Materials

Invasive Lionfish
Removed from Atlantic and Caribbean reefs, then transformed into luminous paintings built from dozens of individual skins.
Explore Lionfish

Invasive Burmese Python
Removed from the Florida Everglades and transformed into singular works that preserve the extraordinary scale and pattern of the animal.
Explore Python

Invasive Carp
Removed from American rivers and reimagined as shifting surfaces of water, light, and movement.
Explore Carp

Impact You Can Trace

Each artwork documents the species and number of skins it contains, along with the source region when known. Collectors receive this information with the artwork as part of its provenance and material history.
Detail of If Nature Had More Time painted on invasive Burmese python leather by Laura Shape

Collect Art With a Real Story Beneath the Surface.

Explore one-of-a-kind paintings created from materials unlike anything else in contemporary fine art.
View Available Art Start a Commission