Sumatran Elephant
A self directed Editorial Illustration for an article that features the Sumatran elephant, a critically endangered subspecies of the Asian elephant, that is native to the dense forests of Sumatra, Indonesia. Unfortunately, habitat loss due to deforestation and illegal logging, coupled with human-wildlife conflicts, has drastically reduced its population.
Approach
Missing Sumatran Elephant explores absence within abundance. Created in a single day, the illustration plays with subtraction and negative space, focusing on the endangered status of the Sumatran elephant by embedding its form within the dense ecosystem of the Sumatran rainforest. Surrounded by lush foliage and biodiversity, the elephant becomes both part of the landscape and difficult to locate within it — reflecting how species can quietly disappear even from the environments they once defined.
