Early Collage Works 2009-2013
I first began making collage works after I graduated from art school. I think I was feeling a bit adrift without the structure of school, and also burned out from continuously striving to develop new works to a standard I felt confident with. Collage allowed me to hide. It still does. I was able to free up my mind and step back from the pressure of being a newly graduated artist.
Theatres of Nature (2009)
During my 3rd and 4th year at Gray’s School of Art I became interested in stop-motion animation as a method to further my ideas. My first forays were collaborative efforts, but for my final degree show project I devised and animated ‘Theatres of Nature’ (2009). The short was an exploration of past, present and future animal representations, museum culture and the evolution of the preservation of animal life.
At the time I was particularly concerned with the evolution of the culture of collection and display of animals, progressing from the early curio crammed “wunderkammer” to the meticulously categorised and presented 19th century natural history museum. To me, it seems that mankind has perpetually strived to capture the essence of the animal through various methods of preservation, but such attempts are ultimately futile, as it cannot be contained in a jar, or a vitrine, nor interpreted and controlled by taxonomic order.
‘Theatre’s of Nature’ was an attempt using the uncanny medium of stop-motion, to bring my ideas ‘to life’.
An excerpt of the animation can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFzmwEqvdFk
