I come from a humble background where the country landscape is surrounding. My desire for a simplistic life style has influenced my art in an unpredicted way. I never expected to be making art depicting cattle. These cattle appear in various mediums throughout my work including printmaking and sculpture, in a mostly realistic manner.
The cows originated as something whimsical and impulsive. Without any conscious intent, I began mass-producing and altering the many cows I first made. Through experimentation I was drawn into making more cows in other mediums, perhaps searching for a revelation. While I have yet to happen upon a complete enlightenment, my testing has shown me some truths about myself to myself. I see now that my research has been in fact a form of self-therapy. The ways in which I manipulate the cattle have provided insight, for example the repetition of nearly the same cows correspond with a desire for a simple, modest life and my fondness for routine, while the boxed cattle demonstrates my struggle with scopophobia.
Currently I employ only one type of cattle: an unspecified female. This female cattle could be considered a heifer, a female that has never given birth, or a cow, a female that is of at least one year of age and has given birth. The heifer more directly relates to myself, while the cow is a choice based on my admiration of other women, especially mothers.
The complexity of the cow form directly contrasts the simplistic processes I use for reproduction. The methods I employ is where the self-therapy actually comes from, not the cow form itself. While there is a fond nostalgia of the cow form, a comforting reminder of my upbringing, the processes are what bring me true contentedness.
The cows originated as something whimsical and impulsive. Without any conscious intent, I began mass-producing and altering the many cows I first made. Through experimentation I was drawn into making more cows in other mediums, perhaps searching for a revelation. While I have yet to happen upon a complete enlightenment, my testing has shown me some truths about myself to myself. I see now that my research has been in fact a form of self-therapy. The ways in which I manipulate the cattle have provided insight, for example the repetition of nearly the same cows correspond with a desire for a simple, modest life and my fondness for routine, while the boxed cattle demonstrates my struggle with scopophobia.
Currently I employ only one type of cattle: an unspecified female. This female cattle could be considered a heifer, a female that has never given birth, or a cow, a female that is of at least one year of age and has given birth. The heifer more directly relates to myself, while the cow is a choice based on my admiration of other women, especially mothers.
The complexity of the cow form directly contrasts the simplistic processes I use for reproduction. The methods I employ is where the self-therapy actually comes from, not the cow form itself. While there is a fond nostalgia of the cow form, a comforting reminder of my upbringing, the processes are what bring me true contentedness.