I have always been interested in the evolution of social and cultural ideologies in a time of constant, in-exhaustive mass media consumption. Not only this, but how these newly forged ideologies are anchored in our past and our obsessive nostalgia with the religious, fantastical and supernatural. How are these ideals portrayed and warped? I was particularly struck by the constant language of progression within our media and society which ignores the moral and ethical development in favour of unsustainable aesthetic and capitalistic expansion. The themes and imagery of ‘man vs nature’ is one that is often used, simplified and trivialised in relation to humanities need to appease its egotistical image of dominance above all things in the most superficial manner. Our media and ideals are filled with superlatives; whos the prettiest, the sexiest, the richest, the most powerful? These ideals form a part of a new social religion worshipping the progression of these superficial ideals in a way which is not only self-defeating, but self-destructive.
The imagery of religion and iconoclasm is always very inspirational to me in the devotion and intensity they are able to create, images which create such impact through the pure act of simulating an imagined act, scene or deity. I was also interested in the way in which animals are often drawn into religion and its symbolism, often acting as mirrors or metaphors onto the human condition. Not only this, but also a tangible object on which to project ideals and beliefs that are inconceivable in the guise of a human. Humanities deepest and darkest natures have always found their truest reflection in the abstraction of the animal kingdom and in anthropomorphism, relating to some raw version of our natures that are expressed without filters or distorted aesthetics of our own ideals. As I was researching the relationship of animals and people within a conceptual and artistic confine, I came across Beth Cavener Stichter who expresses that “there are primitive animal instincts lurking in our own depths, waiting for the chance to slide past a conscious moment.” Cavener’s contorted, enchantingly haunting sculptural forms inspired me to explore humanities relationship to its animal shadows.
Ink pen, markers and white paint pen.
Both 14.8 x 21cm
In Memoriam
Ink pen and coloured inks.
21 x 29.7cm
Kingdom Come
Oil paints on primed mdf.
30 x 40cm
Through using the traditional medium of oil paint I wanted to use the hyperbolically paradoxical image of stag in an abstracted, unknown murky setting lifting it from both urban and natural settings to be left in limbo. I wanted to recreate the conflicted human ego, emblazoning its superiority in power and aesthetics whilst in itself, it is at war. Fire is always something to me that is incredibly striking, allowing for blazing contrasts and warping the image with burning light, being both purging and renewing, but an inevitable side effect of attempting to forge ahead. Our ambition burns us away and yet we are stubborn and defiant in its wake, and the world around us burns too, leaving devastation in our wake.
Rebecca Elysium 