Artist Statement
11 copper-plate photogravure prints — 1999
The Gallery is a provocative series of portraits challenging our perception of animals through less-than-perfect taxidermy specimens. Each image presents an animal as an iconic figure, simultaneously noble and imperfect, deliberately subverting the idealized representations we encounter in popular media. The photographs expose the artifice of how we romanticize and construct animal identities, using the formal conventions of traditional portraiture to highlight this cultural phenomenon. I select, then photograph each subject based on how they represent an expressive moment, which is poignant and sometimes funny. These moments are not fleeting, however, but frozen by the methodology, choices, and skills (or lack thereof) of the taxidermist. The animal could play no part in how it was posed. They were the pawns of tradition and formal convention.
The series meticulously mimics the aesthetic of 18th and 19th-century aristocratic portraiture, complete with archaic decorative borders and oversized ornate frames. By placing taxidermied animals within this elevated visual context, the work creates a sense of sublime absurdity. The taxonomic titles assigned to each specimen further enhance this effect, echoing the pompous nomenclature of historical peerage and adding a layer of ironic formality.
Drawing from the overwhelming animal imagery that saturates our cultural landscape—from National Geographic and Disney to Instagram and YouTube—The Gallery exaggerates the tendency to aggrandize wildlife. The photographs are not a criticism of animals’ societal roles, but a nuanced exploration of anthropomorphization, challenging viewers to recognize the artificial personalities we impose on animal subjects.
Each carefully selected and photographed specimen becomes a frozen moment that reveals more about human perception than the animal itself. The work invites viewers to confront their own unconscious patterns of animal (mis) representation, ultimately prompting a more thoughtful consideration of how animals truly exist beyond our constructed narratives, in contrast to our assumptions regarding these unfortunate creatures.