Sharon Belkin

"Poison Everywhere"

Acrylic painting; 2020

Flower: Aristolochia grandiflora, a potent medicinal plant of Central America.

Snake: Bothriechis schlegelii, a highly venomous eyelash viper.

Butterfly and Caterpillar: Battus polydamas, a pipevine Swallowtail, able to tolerate and ingest this plant’s toxin, and use it for its own defense