RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Portraits of Grasses JF Ecological Restoration FD University of Wisconsin Press SP 206 OP 212 DO 10.3368/er.26.3.206 VO 26 IS 3 A1 Essig, Matilda YR 2008 UL http://er.uwpress.org/content/26/3/206.abstract AB Ecological restoration is a cultural choice. I understand our world to be in a crisis of perception: we see ourselves as separate or somehow independent from the natural world. As an artist and a restorationist, I have always sought to foster a sense of reconnection between human culture and the natural world. I try to help people see how, even in the face of dramatic ecological damage, our individual actions will make a difference. Part of the answer is to return to the source with the tools of the future. Through my art, and specifically the imaging of biodiversity, I work to let the life forms of nature express their own beauty, their character, diversity, adaptation, and resilience. For me, this is also work to restore the role of art as visionary vehicle in human civilization.