Herps in Art: The Pacific Tree Frog (Pseudacris regilla)

At first glance, the Pacific Tree Frog (Pseudacris regilla) catches the eye with its vibrantly bright hues of green. If you are not keen on details, it would be very easy to miss this amphibian that seemlessly blends in with its arboreal environment. It's much like a really intense game of "I Spy" -- the frog edition.


Let me introduce you to an artist who knows what it means to capture beauty that is skin deep. Brandon Ballengée is an artist, biologist and environmental activist who effortlessly marries science and art into a visual euphoria. He creates "reliquaries" of amphibians. That's right. Mr. Ballengée essentially collects the remains of amphibians (mostly Californian frogs) and somehow preserves them for his artistic renditions. According to his personal site, this intricate process includes collecting permanently deformed frogs found in nature, followed by "clearing and staining" and re-scaling their actual sizes into smaller portraits. This is not meant to be a cut-and-dry replication of the frogs. Rather, it removes some visual elements of the frogs (i.e. large size and some colors) that may "frighten" the viewers into perceiving these creatures as monsters. And he achieves this, hands down. Here is one of his reliquary works on Pseudacris regilla. This one is entitled Phaethon.

Stained reliquary: Phaethon

For starters, the name of this piece is very fitting for the image. Phaethon means "Shining One," and in Greek mythology, he was the young son of the Sun god, Helios. The story goes that young Phaethon begged his father to ride the sun-chariot, and when he finally did, his inexperience led him to lose control of the chariot -- setting aflame the Earth and all the plains of Africa to desert (http://www.theoi.com). In this image, the intensely bright yellow colour down the spine of the frog stirs that image of the bright yellow sun-chariot and the beautiful yet dangerous chaos that became of it. Ballengée also makes this relic of Pseudacris regilla appear to be glowing and levitating, like a celestial body. Like a harmless and docile being, as innocent as a newborn baby. This portrayal of the frog incites a feeling of comfort and trust. I could not help but feel an enormous amount of compassion for this cute "little" frog. It's almost interesting how there is an opposition between name and image as well. Dangerous yet beautiful. Mischievous yet innocent. I believe that this is Ballengée's aim, not just in this piece of art, but also in his other renditions of amphibians. Sometimes people are quick to run away from amphibians or characterise all of them as beasts and monsters that only seek to make our lives more difficult or uncomfortable. However, that is not always the case. We co-exist with these animals, and they need the same amount of love that we too are seeking. For more of these images, check out Ballengée's website: http://brandonballengee.com/projects/reliquaries/.