Photo courtesy Alain Rasolo
2023 PROJECTS
Comic Book called “A Home for Lemurs” about finding a natural habitat for pet lemurs (a separate project in collaboration with Foundation Manga Maso).
“Soa” travel sketchbook series (Initial two), one about the wonders of Ranomafana Rainforest and the second about the Betsileo tribe and culturally valuable sites around Fianarantsoa.
Visual materials for VOI Mitsinjo, a local community organization in Ranomafana.
Studio oloNala creative space and nature workshop.
Photo courtesy Alain Rasolo
wildlife artist
alain rasolo
ABOUT
Alain Rasolo is a Malagasy wildlife artist with a background in Environmental Science and Biodiversity Conservation from the University of Toamasina (ISSEDD). Painting nature in watercolour is his preferred means of expression, making extensive art pieces (paintings, educational posters, travel sketchbooks etc.) about the island’s rich biodiversity and culture. He also works in graphic design and crafts.
Rasolo originated from the Fianarantsoa area but grew up in Toamasina, the main city in the east, and it was there that he started to draw. He discovered the joy in painting during a field trip for his bachelor’s degree in Tampolo, a protected area north of Toamasina. At the time he was doing research on the woolly lemur (Avahi laniger) at night and practicing watercolours during the day.
In addition to making art for the sake of art, Rasolo has also had the chance to work with multiple conservation and education organizations. In 2014, he worked as a consultant for Madagascar Fauna & Flora Group at Ivoloina Zoological and Botanical Park. He worked on remodeling the zoo's education centre, creating new exhibition materials and restoring some of the old ones with an Austrian artist, Jana Grabner. He also made communication materials for the zoo (maps, leaflets, zoo signs etc). In 2015, he was invited for a creative workshop between some of Madagascar’s renown artists and Ranomafana’s local artisans at Centre ValBio. After the workshop he was approached by Dr. Patricia Wright to collaborate with the center’s education team in making awareness and educational materials, making a series of posters about Ranomafana forest’s wildlife and creating activity materials to be shared with schools around the Park. Rasolo was also part of PLAY Madagascar’s creative team and works with Foundation Manga Maso in creating a comic book to raise awareness about lemur pet trade in Madagascar.
He also participated in various scientific and artistic expeditions. Namely in Mangevo, one of the more remote part of Ranomafana National Park, a fern survey expedition with Association Timarcha from the University of Sorbonne in Isalo National Park, a Centre ValBio scientific expedition led by Dr Patricia Wright in the New Protected Area of Ivohiboro and an exploratory trip to Antoetra the Zafimaniry woodcarvers’s village.
In 2020 he initiated a project called studio oloNala (meaning humans and forest in Malagasy). When established, he is hoping to have it as a creative hub for wildlife art and local culture, but also a place for various workshops and youth training.
In 2022, he became an active member of a local community organization called VOI Mitsinjo. They are managing about 440 Hectares of a forest that is part of a World Heritage Site “Rainforests of the Atsinanana.” Working with the managing team as a visual material creator, he designed their logo, trifold/brochure, entrance sign and will work on the entrance tickets and the welcoming booth in 2024.
His goal is to hone his artistic skills, to explore the teeming world of nature, and to bring his anjara biriky, to bring his contribution, to the effort of biodiversity conservation and cultural preservation through art.