My work draws on the rich cultural and mythological histories of animals to create a new language about our relationships with nature and each other. The work is intended to elicit visceral reactions in the viewers, and to raise questions about human nature. Some animals generate feelings of fear, others of warmth and companionship. By pairing them with physical representations of human emotions, such as loneliness and the desire to belong, I create stories about individuality and humanity.
With the choice of artificial materials composing organic animal form, I am both glorifying and negating nature. By transforming animals into objects, I am addressing the coexistence of our fascination with and exploitation of them. We love them, but we destroy them. We admire their primality, but we try to control them.
This work visually addresses the bipolar disposition of humanity towards nature, whether that is internal or external.