Artist makes heart-breaking trip to paint last two Northern White Rhinos
British artist John Dyer has completed a remarkable and heart-breaking project - painting the last two surviving Northern White Rhinos.
The painter, who is from Cornwall and acts as an artist in residence at the Eden Project, travelled to Kenya from the end of February until the beginning of March to paint the majestic creatures.
The trip came almost exactly five years after Sudan, the last male Northern White Rhino, died in March 2018.
As a result of his death, only two of the rhinos - Najin and Fatu - remain, making the species functionally extinct. The pair are living out their days at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.
Speaking about how moving it was to paint the last two rhinos, John stated: "This was the most profound experience of my life. To have the privilege to meet and paint the last of a species is humbling, devastating and uplifting all at the same time. It was a great joy for me to have exclusive access to realise my dream and to raise awareness around this extinction event, but the fact that is, even highlighting the subject is a sadness."
He added: "I will be one of the last artists to be able to paint the Northern White Rhino from life. In just a few short years, the species will be extinct and consigned to picture books and websites. It fills my heart with sorrow and shame that our species continues to erase noble and majestic species like the rhino and devastate ecosystems on a continuous basis. We must all stand up to be the change."
The rhinos themselves were a difficult subject to capture with paint - as John had to take care not to disturb them.
He founded his Last Chance to Paint project after Sudan's death in 2018. The not-for-profit raises awareness of environmental issues by engaging school kids in the arts so they create personal connections to the natural world, tribal groups and new cultures.
The project's website is LastChanceToPaint.com.
