And the Animal responded

- SOLO 

Everard Read/CIRCA Cape Town, CUBICLE Series
|
Aug 3 – Aug 16, 2020
Photographer: Mile Hall
Cubicle Installation
Pink Betty, 2020
Oil on Gesso Panel,
24 x 18cm
Cubicle Installation
Sharing in the Shadow (Luna) , 2020
Edition of 8
Bronze
1.8kg
12 x 15.5 x 8.5cm
Cubicle Installation
Thou Who Lovest Greatly (Mouse) , 2020
Edition of 8
Bronze
2.05kg
9 x 12,5 x 10,5cm
Blue Mouse, 2020
Ink Wash on Fabriano Paper,
17.5 x 25cm
Out with Mice, 2020
Ink Wash on Fabriano Paper,
17.5 x 25cm
LEFT
In a Tender Trouble (Pompei Dog) , 2020
Edition of 8
Bronze
1.75kg
13 x 10 x 10cm

MIDDLE
Sharing in the Shadow (Luna) , 2020
Edition of 8
Bronze
1.8kg
12 x 15.5 x 8.5cm

RIGHT
Gentle Fellow - Creature (Bella) , 2020
Edition of 8
Bronze
3.6kg
5 x 17.5 x 17.5cm
Familiar Pain, 2020
Ink on Fabriano Paper, 25 x 35.5cm
Cubicle Installation
Liquid Day Cat, 2020
Ink Wash on Fabriano Paper,
35.5 x 50cm
This Dog Watched Beside a Bed (Rufus) , 2020
Edition of 8
Bronze
2.35kg
6.5 x 15 x 8cm
Cubicle Installation with Artist
In a Tender Trouble (Pompei Dog) , 2020
Edition of 8
Bronze
1.75kg
13 x 10 x 10cm
Night Cat, 2020
Ink Wash on Fabriano Paper,
17.5 x 25cm
Cubicle Installation

My work reflects on the gendered roles of women and often hints at the domestic restraints of my past. Currently I have been focusing on Companion Species, exploring complex relations of dependency and interdependence. The entangled histories of interspecies relationships provide many possibilities for my work, most importantly the flattening of hierarchies between species. These ideas expand on the concept of decentering in an anthropocentric world and open us up to the responsive capacity of all life on earth. Focusing on my own four-legged companions, I understand that humans are also changed and formed through these relationships. When my beloved companion Bella passed away, I reflected on our last moments together. These were profound. They were filled with reciprocal perception and feeling. The aim of this body of work is to communicate the dual impact relationships like this leave on both companions’ whatever species they might be. The sculptures have been created in two parts, so that when the animal is lifted off its base there remains a memory in the indentation where it lay, representing interspecies connectivity as well as the very personal process of loss.

Copyright Nicola BAILEY 2023