Oakland, California based artist Crystal Morey feels a special connection to nature that stems from her childhood years spent in the Sierra Nevada foothills. When she moved to the city, her entire perspective changed. “I once saw humans as being under the umbrella of “nature,” subservient to natural happening. I now realize humans are the largest variable in the changing of our planet’s ecological and environmental outcome,” she says. This is the driving motivation behind her sculptures of totem-like creatures inspired by various cultures; human characters wrapped in the skins of eagles, bears, deer, rabbits and other animals. She chooses animals that she feels her audience can relate to, in hopes to better illustrate our close relationship to and affect on nature. Many, like the polar bear, are on the brink of extinction, creating an added sense of urgency to her message. We often find her characters isolated in moments of inner reflection about the Earth’s future, while others are paired together, only to share in their melancholy. “I hope that the viewer comes away from my work thinking and asking questions about our role as humans on the earth and our relationship to other living beings.”
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