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Fish #196 Mediterranean Scaldfish Arnoglossus laterna ~ Ben Fitton
Acrylic and found object on canvas 40 x 40 cm
the Mediterranean scaldfish, is sometimes just known as a Scaldfish, and belongs to the left eyed flatfish family. It's of little commercial interest to fisheries and is usually discarded if caught. This might be the reason why I couldn't find much information on this fish, and not many images of it either.
What I did learn was that the Scaldfish is found in the Eastern Atlantic of Europe and Africa, as well as the Mediterranean. It lives on mixed or muddy bottoms, up to 200 metres down and feeds on small fishes and invertebrates. It grows up to 25cm in total length and it's conservation status is of 'Least Concern'.
My painting is in Acrylic and found objects on canvas. I created a series of works on goldfish many years ago so jumped at the chance of being involved in this great project. The painting changed many times as I tried to cope with the lack of pictures and other resource material to hand. At one point, I started carefully painting items of rubbish onto the canvas with the idea that I wanted to address the issue of pollution in our oceans and seas. This didn't really work so instead, I decided to use actual bits of plastic rubbish that I found during a walk along a beach. I struggled with the task of gluing rubbish onto one of my canvases, but then, not as much as I struggle to understand the mentality of people who drop rubbish or allow this pollution to enter our seas in the first place.
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