Bill Saylor, “Neptune’s Machine”

The deleterious effects of climate change—rising sea levels, acidification, warming water temperatures—on the ocean and its inhabitants provide the thematic spark for the Neo-Expressionist paintings and sculptures that, for the most part, delve into marine life and lore. Depictions of squid and sea birds are mixed with mythological references —most notably to the eponymous deity of the deep whose “machine,” in this case, is a fragile ecosystem about to break down.