My practice explores the complex contemporary relationship between humans and domesticated animals, a relationship which is necessarily visual due to the impossibility of verbal communication. I consider how we look at animals and how they look at us, inviting us to confront our place within the natural world and the custodial role we take on, an increasingly pressing issue in this age of ecological crisis.
Removing the figure from its context and surrounding it by negative space allows the animal to transcend their domestic or farmyard environment and the limitations and connotations of these spaces. Through my choices of materials and my treatment of animals as figurative subjects I consider concepts of hierarchy and sentimentality. My work attempts to eschew a sentimental approach and to explore domesticated animals visually beyond a kitsch aesthetic.
This body of work explores complex narratives and contradictory aspects of this interspecies relationship, particularly trust, control, care and connection. An expected idyllic narrative is disrupted by moments of tension within the paintings. A pair of latex gloved hands, bared teeth, and alarmingly closely cropped framing of wild eyed expressions introduce anxieties and psychological tension.
Painting on metal panels introduces an industrial quality, echoing the materials involved in both the agricultural and veterinary industries. It is a material that feels simultaneously raw, natural and manufactured, mirroring the conflicting natural/manufactured histories of domesticated animal breeds.
The exposed metal surface reflects the silhouette of the viewer, involving them visually in the artwork. The viewer is reflected back to themselves and, superimposed into some of the more challenging paintings, the audience is invited to question their own relationships with animals, their own beliefs and ethical choices. The artwork does not intend to offer an answer.
