The Natural History of my Surrealist Prints
My art is, first and foremost, a response to individual animals and experiences in the natural world. Having lifelong connections to creatures and places, observing their moods, movements, and natures, is the most visceral inspiration I can fathom. Reflections on the history and current practices of domestication; witnessing current ecological successes and crises; commensal and symbiotic relationships, especially between members of phylogenetically disparate categories of life – these are the pillars of my work. Is a fungal partner to an old growth tree as bacteria is to my gut? Are village dogs to humans as algae is to coral?
As a naturalist and lifelong student of anthrozoology, a strong focus for me is the contemplation of human cultural experience of nature and wildness. It is in this pillar I see a particular relationship with printed media. I have always been enthralled with how a given culture's gaze upon animals is manifest in two-dimensional media. This encompasses everything from paleolithic cave painting, 17th century ephemeral etchings, and even modern internet memes.
I have been receiving requests for printed paper editions of my sculptures for many years, but it has only been recently that I have started to explore their potential as a way to look deeper into my own work. In practical terms, the prints are intended to make my sculptures available in a more displayable and affordable form to a greater number of people. For the purpose of artistic growth, the prints support my ability to spend more time and 'go deeper' within each sculpture. Within the canon of my practice, the prints are intended to probe the connection to that two-dimensional space which often informs the initial creation of the piece. Through the production of many successive print series, using my own sculptures as a point of departure, I hope to explore the aesthetic of animals, nature and wildness as reflected in my own gaze.