Menagerie, the Meaning and Methods [Metals]

Description/Abstract/Artist Statement

Artist Statement

Menagerie is a piece to simulate the beauty, complexity, and savagery of nature. I find it amazing how interconnected all the biomes are, for example, in the Congo rain from a rainforest washes nutrient into a coral reef which when broken down the coral forms sand which forms the beach that the rainforest animals utilize. Nutrients from the Amazon Rainforest helps nourish plankton thousands of miles away in the African portion of the Atlantic.

From a scientific standpoint you can talk about the speculated LUCA, last known universal constant ancestor, and draw on the fact that complex animals all use calcium, sodium, and potassium for their nerves, or similarities in fore limb structures of all vertebrates. From a spiritual standpoint it is amazing to think about how all life is recycled, an animal is killed and eaten to sustain another, much the same way that when a predator dies it will decompose and fuel plant growth which keeps its prey alive, and its bones will be chewed by other mammals to obtain calcium. The fact that life exists at all is amazing, if it were not for super novas, exploding stars, billions of years ago which formed iron and other vital elements then we would not have the chemical elements to sustain life. Even the variety of animals in the same class, think about the amazing similarities between this puma and the male orangutan, both have hair, both produce milk, but morphologically very different. Even look at the two birds shown, the great horned owl and wire crested thorn tail hummingbird, or the tiger legged monkey frog and hellbender salamander, both birds and both amphibians and yet both very different and perfectly suited for their role in the ecosystem. Everything has a role in the ecosystem, including people, however I feel that we as a species need to address all the issues that we have been causing and work for a common goal to fix them. We only have one planet, so we must cherish it.

For this I tried to use rough wood, mainly drift wood, to show the toll that nature can take on organic material, hence the barnacles and cracks. I fell in love with metalsmithing, namely for this lost wax casting with a chased piece, the owl, as well. I find the juxtaposition of clearly non-organic looking metal being used to make living animals and celebrate their diversity intriguing. Most of the art that I do draws influences from artists and scientists like Charles Darwin, Leonardo da Vinci, and John Audubon. I appreciate art as a form of expression, however I feel that people do not regularly appreciate it as a means of teaching. I always figured that biology is the study of life and art is the celebration of it, so the two belong together.

Faculty Advisor/Mentor

Dianne deBeixedon, Jane Ritchie

Presentation Type

Artwork

Disciplines

Metal and Jewelry Arts

Session Title

Art Exhibit

Location

Learning Commons @ Perry Library, Northeast Atrium

Start Date

2-3-2018 8:00 AM

End Date

2-3-2018 12:30 PM

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Feb 3rd, 8:00 AM Feb 3rd, 12:30 PM

Menagerie, the Meaning and Methods [Metals]

Learning Commons @ Perry Library, Northeast Atrium

Artist Statement

Menagerie is a piece to simulate the beauty, complexity, and savagery of nature. I find it amazing how interconnected all the biomes are, for example, in the Congo rain from a rainforest washes nutrient into a coral reef which when broken down the coral forms sand which forms the beach that the rainforest animals utilize. Nutrients from the Amazon Rainforest helps nourish plankton thousands of miles away in the African portion of the Atlantic.

From a scientific standpoint you can talk about the speculated LUCA, last known universal constant ancestor, and draw on the fact that complex animals all use calcium, sodium, and potassium for their nerves, or similarities in fore limb structures of all vertebrates. From a spiritual standpoint it is amazing to think about how all life is recycled, an animal is killed and eaten to sustain another, much the same way that when a predator dies it will decompose and fuel plant growth which keeps its prey alive, and its bones will be chewed by other mammals to obtain calcium. The fact that life exists at all is amazing, if it were not for super novas, exploding stars, billions of years ago which formed iron and other vital elements then we would not have the chemical elements to sustain life. Even the variety of animals in the same class, think about the amazing similarities between this puma and the male orangutan, both have hair, both produce milk, but morphologically very different. Even look at the two birds shown, the great horned owl and wire crested thorn tail hummingbird, or the tiger legged monkey frog and hellbender salamander, both birds and both amphibians and yet both very different and perfectly suited for their role in the ecosystem. Everything has a role in the ecosystem, including people, however I feel that we as a species need to address all the issues that we have been causing and work for a common goal to fix them. We only have one planet, so we must cherish it.

For this I tried to use rough wood, mainly drift wood, to show the toll that nature can take on organic material, hence the barnacles and cracks. I fell in love with metalsmithing, namely for this lost wax casting with a chased piece, the owl, as well. I find the juxtaposition of clearly non-organic looking metal being used to make living animals and celebrate their diversity intriguing. Most of the art that I do draws influences from artists and scientists like Charles Darwin, Leonardo da Vinci, and John Audubon. I appreciate art as a form of expression, however I feel that people do not regularly appreciate it as a means of teaching. I always figured that biology is the study of life and art is the celebration of it, so the two belong together.