The story:
The modern Madonna or Virgin Mary figure in this painting holds a sick wolf pup instead of a baby Jesus. She wears the virgin blue robe and has a halo decorated with purple sand verbena and toxic datura, both found in the region. A simple renaissance style band decorates her hair. She holds an old discarded container full of water in one hand, and the other holds an eyedropper, which she uses to feed the pup a little water. At her knee the pup's mother rests her head, monitoring the scene. She looks back at us the way an angel or John the Baptist would in the traditional Madonna paintings done centuries ago. The grouping is arranged around a large old discarded tire, and another wolf is seen in the background looking off into the distance, perhaps like a Joseph figure. The Madonna paintings of old took place in different locations and had different themes, such as Madonna of the Rocks, Madonna of the Long Neck, and Madonna of the Goldfinch. This one take place in southern California at a site infamous for it's pollution and massive bird and fish die-offs: The Salton Sea. The shores in this painting are edged with foul foamy algae, and dead pelicans, tilapia, sargo, pupfish and corvina litter the beach. The three wolves are endangered Mexican Wolves. They used to range from Mexico to Texas to southeastern California in great numbers. A few years ago, none existed in the wild. A few have since been reintroduced.

The underlying meaning:
The Madonna is a green skeleton because she is a religious version of Mother Nature attempting to heal her children by helping the wolf family, and she too is not exactly glowing with health. The painting is also a not so subtle statement that what's happening to the environment today is as significant as the advent of Christianity 2,000 years ago.

The California Wolf Center helps put these beautiful creatures back on the map.

Detail 1 & Detail 2