Lisa Roet has worked closely with scientists for the past two decades, fueling an artistic interest in primates. The physical manifestation of this passion has appeared outside and inside cultural institutions across the world. She explores the place of apes, monkeys, chimpanzees, and gorillas in the world through sculpture (both traditional and inflatable materials), photography, works on paper, and other multimedia projects.
Or as the artist’s statement says: “With the ape as her muse, Roet encourages us to reflect upon prevailing attitudes towards these relatives with whom we share in excess of 98 percent of our DNA, the lingering anxiety with our evolutionary past, our use of apes for scientific and entertainment purposes and the way in which we project onto apes our own fantasies and culture, while at the same time assuming they are somehow ‘inferior’ to us.”
Her recent “Golden Monkey” featured the likeness of the Sneezing Snub Nose Monkey, an endangered species. She uses her primate-inspired works to raise awareness about global warming, deforestation, and other issues.
