The Urban Pest
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Authors
Grobbel, Samantha
Issue Date
2011
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
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Abstract
The artist writes “My work began as an exploration of how painting can help me discover a human relationship with animals in modern society. It seemed to me that buildings displace animals from their natural habitat, and when reentry is attempted, their efforts are thwarted. So I placed North American animals in an environment that is both outside and inside, in an attempt to coax out explanations through these juxtapositions. Playing with size and perspective, I intended the paintings to be slightly humorous and shocking. As the paintings progressed, I realized that they became pieces about transitions. Migration became central; it became a realization of a metaphysical world - as well as a visualization of the classifications and dualities with which I had constructed the world. It became evident that there was a distinction between a natural and an urban world, but that it is deeply blended into the structure of the paintings. The distinction only exists in the mind, not in the paintings where they have become one entity. Trapped in a world that is forever changing, the animals are stuck in paintings that are unchanging. They are forever immobile because of the perpetual forces that cause them to adapt. The animals are passive, and I meant to highlight the fact they are relatively unable to affect the world around them in the painting. Boundaries became intensely important in the pieces. It was necessary to create the urban environment – a synthesized environment that was both indoors and outdoors, real and unreal. Through the abstracted buildings and highway sides, I came to realize the boundaries – they’re boundaries that the animals migrate through and are channeled by. In this way I realized that the animals are controlled by these thoroughfares, and as a metaphor for something far more abstract. Most importantly, what can this relationship tell us about ourselves?”
Description
32 p.
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License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder. All rights reserved.