ABOUT THE ARTIST
Naomi McCavitt, is the artist behind Thicket Design. Her background in the fine arts includes a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University, and an MFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute. She has exhibited in group shows in Richmond, San Francisco, Miami, and Chicago, and has hosted solo shows in both Seattle and San Francisco. Since earning her Master’s in 2008, she has immersed herself in freelance design and illustration. In 2015 she began creating species and other nature-based illustrations for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and was a contracted employee of the Department for 4 years. In January of 2017 she decided to go freelance full time, starting Thicket Design for custom and original art, wallpaper, and murals inspired by the natural world.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work combines natural science illustration with design. I have worked as both scientific illustrator and surface designer. I combine these two utilitarian forms of art to make objects that remind us of our connection to nature. Part of my mission as an artist is to highlight species that are underrepresented in the interior design world, species not typically thought of as beautiful. Changing minds about what is swatted away vs gazed at in awe. What is worthy of our attention and conservation. My mission is to find powerful collaborators in the form of scientists who review my work for accuracy and folx with traditional ecological knowledge (T.E.K.) to amplify the causes of first peoples and determine the concept and composition of the work. The purpose of the work is to foster conservation, meditation on, and connection to nature. I use objects of interior design (wallpaper, fabric) because they are accessible, utilitarian, and desirable. This helps the message to reach more people. I believe the world of interior design is ready for content, the world of science needs the indigenous perspective, and the world of art can make space for the useful and beautiful. I seek a pluralistic approach, navigating multiple fields and forms as well as engaging talented collaborators in fields outside of art to prioritize the message and action above all else. I recognize my debt to naturalists of the past, like John James Audubon, but place myself in the present moment by focusing not on cataloging resources to exploit but as a communicator of the beauty in nature we seek to preserve.
I am always seeking collaborators and projects that can use Thicket Design as a vessel for environmental and social justice. I take custom requests for art, murals, and design work. If you have an idea get in touch!
FOLLOW: @THICKETDESIGN
