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Amy Stein  New York, NY


* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.


About Amy


My photographs serve as modern dioramas of our new natural history. Within these scenes I explore our paradoxical relationship with the “wild” and how our conflicting impulses continue to evolve and alter the behavior of both humans and animals. We at once seek connection with the mystery and freedom of the natural world, yet we continually strive to tame the wild around us and compulsively control the wild within our own nature. Within my work I examine the primal issues of comfort and fear, dependence and determination, submission and dominance that play out in the physical and psychological encounters between man and the natural world. Increasingly, these encounters take place within the artificial ecotones we have constructed that act as both passage and barrier between domestic space and the wild.

The photographs in this series are constructed based on real stories from local newspapers and oral histories of intentional and random interactions between humans and animals. The narratives are set in and around Matamoras, a small town in Northeast Pennsylvania that borders a state forest.


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Recommended by our guest curators


Annie Vought

Oakland, CA artist

"I love her artist statement: "Within my work I examine the primal issues of comfort and fear, dependence and determination, submission and dominance that play out in the physical and psychological encounters between man and the natural world. Increasingly, these encounters take place within the artificial ecotones we have constructed that act as both passage and barrier between domestic space and the wild.""


Amy appears in the following Top 10 lists


'New York'

'2008'

'Lions Tigers And Bears'


10 of 11 reactions displayed


"Beautifully and thoughtfully considered work. These are novel images, finely executed."

"I took a class in college a couple years back and my TA at the time showed me your work. It's nice getting to see your stuff up in a highly public place like this. WTG!!"

"I PROBABLY WOOD OF PEED MYSELF IF I HAD OF I SAWED THAT SO........ANY WOW!!!"

"OH.........MY........GOD!!!!!"

"RSadler -- It looks like the fence was put up to keep the "natural" world out. I find it ironic that that barrier now obscures our connection to a natural human reaction. Because we can not see the little girl's mouth the viewer is left to guess if she is terrified, happy or indifferent about her visitor. Amazing image!"

"Amy I really enjoyed viewing your website. Your domesticated series is fabulous, it really makes a great collection of work. I also enjoyed the Halloween in Harlem series as well. Can't wait to see what you do next!"

"That pic w the bear is so amazing. That girl looked like she waz terrified. I would've been too. well, gtg."

"I see these and I feel that we have lost something precious. There was a time when humans embraced nature as a part of life because we where part of it. Looking at these pictures you can see we tend to expunge it from our exsistance... almost as if nature is simply an after thought that will be there during our next vacation. We have built and technologically advanced so broadly that there is nowhere left for our furry brothers to go... what becomes of our world when they are gone?"

"It's all god 'cept that fence pole going across that girls face. That's just bad cinematography. Which is th' challenge this artist faces; how to tell a story in just one picture."

"Love this!"


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