Artist spotlight: Kate MacDowell

An excerpt from the artist statement from the  artist’s website: 

“In my work this romantic ideal of union with the natural world conflicts with our contemporary impact on the environment.  These pieces are in part responses to environmental stressors including climate change, toxic pollution, and gm crops.  They also borrow from myth, art history, figures of speech and other cultural touchstones.  In some pieces aspects of the human figure stand-in for ourselves and act out sometimes harrowing, sometimes humorous transformations which illustrate our current relationship with the natural world.  In others, animals take on anthropomorphic qualities when they are given safety equipment to attempt to protect them from man-made environmental threats.  In each case the union between man and nature is shown to be one of friction and discomfort with the disturbing implication that we too are vulnerable to being victimized by our destructive practice”

(All artwork copyright of Kate MacDowell).

Please visit her website to learn more about her and the work.

Artist spotlight: Deborah Simon

Looking at animals

Deborah Simon’s mixed media sculptures are a combination of faux taxidermy, toys and sculpture. She strives for close to accurate, but prefers to be slightly “off”. She is interested in evolution and how science museums label and code their specimens. Simon is interested in the total disconnect from the animal in its natural environment.

Simon graduated from the School of Visual Arts, MFA, New York, NY; and the San Francisco Art Institute, BFA Sculpture, San Francisco, CA.

You can learn more about this artist by visiting her website at http://www.deborahsimon.net/index.html
All images are copyright of the artist, Deborah Simon.

Take a look.