‘Host'  'thymus vulgaris’ 'fragaria ananassa’ 'rosmarinus officin

‘Host' 

'thymus vulgaris’

'fragaria ananassa’

'rosmarinus officinalis’

 In my youth I find it hard to understand the concept of death that the deceased aren’t just hiding around the corner. This may seem strange as my practice directly involves the dead but I appear to have lost myself in a fairytale world. I feel that the truly terrifying part of dying is aging, loss of everything you once had and the inability to stop it. Whilst I cannot fathom that I will never see my grandfather again, my breath catches in my throat and my hands shake at the thought of my mother leaving my life. I put this down to me being much more involved in her aging process, I can see it and it feels so real. I believe that this is where the idea for the ‘Host’ series branches from. These three sculpture/instillation pieces combine everything that I think and feel about death, as hard as it is to grasp.

Each piece contains the preserved corpse of a rat playing the role of my Grandfather. It is impersonal and hard to comprehend; suddenly the rat is simply a piece of meat, a soft toy. You’ll never see life in the beads that pretend to be eyes. Each piece also contains herb or fruit bearing plants that play the role of my mother. The first time that you see her she’s young, glowing and immortal. Her branches strong, her leaves luscious, nothing can defeat her. Slowly but surely time scoops her up in his endlessly moving hands and you see change. The branches, once strong begin to weaken; the leaves that were so luscious begin to wilt. You realise that you can never rely on something so frail. You are lost in the depression of death and decay; you cannot see the bigger picture, but you’re the fruit and there is hope. Despite the horror and torture of aging and loss, we must appreciate the beauty and magic that surrounds all life. Yes, you’re mortal but cherish the hope of humankind.

In ‘The World of Perception’, Maurice Merleau-Ponty states; ‘one of the great achievements of modern art and philosophy has been to allow us to rediscover the world in which we live, yet which we are always prone to forget.’ I think that this is a beautiful statement, I often find myself lost in a dream world, with dulled senses, wondering where all the time has gone. I feel that this theory is a large contributor of what got me into taxidermy, searching for a wakeup call. Taxidermy art cannot be ignored, it is in your face and abrupt, it hides nothing about the world we live in.

From my artwork I want viewers to feel their mortality, but also the hope of a larger picture. To gain comfort in the fact that life will continue after them and that every decision and move they make is a small (but nonetheless important) part of human history. I want viewers to find peace and a lessened fear of death. I want them to have an experience.  

Leonardo da Vinci said ‘While I thought I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die.’ Death is an inevitable part of the world in which we live and through learning about death, we remember life.