This is my reef healer. It was inspired by an ancient and huge turtle I met while scuba diving in Bali. This divine turtle with its healing powers brings life back to the bleached reef. As it glides across the coral, color and life bloom and the fish return to a thriving habitat. As a habitat dies, so does the life it supports. To make this point, I played with the idea of “bleached” fish. Color is the indication of life and these ghost fishes represent what is lost when coral dies. The reef healer has a big job to do but it is fulfilling its kuleana (responsibility and duty) to care for the earth, an example humans need to follow.

About the Artist

Jon Ching grew up steeped in natural beauty on the island of O'ahu, Hawai'i, which formed the foundation of his deep fascination with the natural and wild world. A self-taught painter, Jon’s devoted art practice and detailed realism is inspired by the interconnectedness of nature. While dedicated to the minute idiosyncrasies of flora and fauna, Jon’s work is a surreal imagining of what limitless wonders and combinations nature can produce. New creatures and symbioses emerge in his meticulously rendered oil paintings, exemplifying the endless potential of life on Earth. His work is often driven by his personal desire to find a balance between the human and natural worlds, exploring themes of symbiosis and searching for connections, physical and metaphorical, across nature’s kingdoms. Highlighting man-made threats to the natural world is a regular theme in his work to raise awareness of and evoke compassion for the kingdoms of life. Jon’s ultimate hope is to inspire love and admiration for the universally unique beauty and intrigue of our world.