For over 20 years Judith Van Heeren has been making images from nature, and exploring the delicate relationship between humans and the natural environment. Van Heeren's work reflects her interest in the natural world and how we respond to it in both its original state and as mediated through museums and zoological collections. In 2010 she completed a residency in Paris and was engaged by the Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes, the world’s oldest civic zoo and the apparent shift in purpose of holding animals in captivity. Many of Van Heeren's compositions are based on museum tableaux and are presented as deliberately artificial arrangements; perhaps in homage to zoos’ living inhabitants. These tableaux are derived from 17th and 18th century natural illustration and the original display context of the artist's subjects, often painted from actual taxidermy specimens in museum and scientific collections.stonnington contemporary art collection, natural environment, zoo, museums, monkeys, judith van heeran, painting