Two Deer Against Pink Wallpaper36x28", oil and acrylic on canvas
spring 2008
Deer Against Green Wallpaper with Scarf48x36", oil and acrylic on canvas
fall 2008
Deer Figure45x39", oil on cut paper over canvas
spring 2008
Deer Friend30x24", oil and acrylic on canvas
fall 2008
Captive24x36", oil and acrylic on canvas
fall 2008
Self Portrait in Hunter's Mask30x24", oil and acrylic on canvas
fall 2008
Christmasoil and acrylic on canvas, 24x24"
fall 2008
Held
oil and acrylic on canvas, 24x30"
fall 2008
I was at my friend Olivia's house when I wandered into her basement and found myself surrounded by five or six gleaming trophy deer mounted on the walls. Her father was a hunter and had all his deer taxidermied and hung.
I was at my friend Olivia's house when I wandered into her basement and found myself surrounded by five or six gleaming trophy deer mounted on the walls. Her father was a hunter and had all his deer taxidermied and hung.
I have been a vegetarian since the age of ten when I witnessed the slaughtering, roasting and eating of a pig that lived on the farm of my father's colleague. Naturally I have never held an especially high regard for those who engage in the hunting and killing of innocent animals but when I saw Olivia's father's deer I was fascinated.
Soon after this encounter I became obsessed with taxidermy. I never intended nor wished to hunt and kill animals for sport, yet the idea of preserving something that was once living but now dead intrigued me. From this fascination I began painting taxidermied animals, deer in particular.
Painting these deceased animals is a way for me to immortalize their beauty much in the same way that taxidermy attempts to do. I believe that art in its most minimal sense is to preserve something beautiful, be it a vase of flowers or the head of a trophy deer.
Aside from the pride and allure of having the biggest buck hung on your wall, the stuffed head also acts as a physical reminder of the memory of the hunt. In my deer paintings (aside from the deer) I have included a constant element that further ties the series together. This is the element of the wallpaper. Wallpaper to most people is something that is archaic and outdated. My parents can attest to how when they were younger their entire house was covered in wallpaper. Now it can be scarcely found in any home. When In the presence of such an object as wallpaper in this day and age one might recall a nostalgic feeling, a remembrance of old memories. The wallpaper in my paintings is a mnemonic device, aiding in the remembrance of something. My hope is that the viewer will ask what exactly the wallpaper is attempting to aid in remembrance of and be able to explore a deeper psychological meaning into this series than is immediately apparent.
My goal for these paintings was not to advocate against hunting or animal cruelty. The deer and the objects that accompany them in each painting are representative of a specific memory in my life just as each painting is representative of the memory of the life of the deer.
Some of the largest significances in my life have been the events that have lead to my vegetarianism and animal activism. That said; it seems only natural for me to create a series that encompasses both the animal and my self. For this reason the series is titled Stagnant. Stagnant is first a play on words and a reference to all the 'stags' depicted in the paintings. Secondly, Stagnant is meant literally: something that is stationary, still, having no movement or flow. The conception of this series began with the encounter of the dead deer which are all obviously Stagnant. Stagnant then again refers to the Stagnant quality of my memories that now exist as fixed ideas now encased within my paintings.
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