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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Deborah Simon, a Virginia-born, New York-based artist, creates sculptures that explore “the reality of the animal and the vulnerability imbued in toy.” Though her sculptures appear to be taxidermy, series like “Flayed Animals” are made entirely from hand. She uses materials like polymer clay, faux fur, acrylic paint, wire, foam, glass, and embroidery materials to create these animals, mostly focusing on bears.
Since the 1980s, Calvin Nicholls has created paper sculptures that blend 2D and 3D processes, cutting and layering paper for works that escape from the canvas. The artist typically focuses his efforts on creatures from the animal kingdom, emulating the forms of nature only using one or two colors and a meticulous process. The artist says he enjoys white on white, in particular, "due to the emphasis which is placed on texture and form."
Both curious and unsettling, Kate Clark’s sculptures blend humanity and beings from the animal kingdom in wholly new creature. Using a mix of actual animal hides, foam, clay, rubber eyes, and other materials, the artist explores both history and our relationship to nature with each piece. The Brooklyn-based sculptor’s works have been featured in venues across the globe.
Houston-based artist Ana Marietta paints and draws animals with exaggerated human features to create sympathy for her subjects. Looking at a raven with wide eyes glassy with tears, or a frowning pelican dimpled with warts, one feels the animal's deep sorrow. The creatures appear to look outward however, suggesting their sadness comes from the environment, as opposed to any personal ailments directly. Their anthropomorphic deformities hint at something unnatural, an effect explained only by human behavior and intervention.
Toronto-based KiSung Koh’s lifelong enchantment with the wild is evident in his entire body of work. His images (previously featured here) of realistic animals in dreamy environments, primarily in oil on wood or canvas, are painted in tribute to them. Born and raised in a small town in South Korea, Koh has been surrounded by nature from early in his life. At his website, he recalls a moment from his childhood that changed the way he looked at animals forever: "While having a nice walk, I had a chance to see a deer family very close. I can’t explain how I felt at the time because it’s unspeakable. It was just truly amazing. It’s probably easier to say that I saw not only deer, but also beautiful spirits around them." Read more after the jump.
Argentinian-born artist Nicola Constantino pushes the controversial issue of animal rights and the relationship between birth and mortality in her sometimes graphic, always peculiar sculptures of animals. Whether a pig hanging from a conveyor belt, or birds compressed into perfectly round balls, the sculpted animals in Constantino’s works are manipulated in ways that feel forced and staged for human needs.