Mourning and Melancholy
In this recent body of work, I have come to think of each one of my clay chimpanzees as an alter ego. They are not just animals, but are meant to embody the current zeitgeist, mirroring these fraught times. My goal was to create work that was raw and emotive, expressing vulnerability.
Background leading up to this work
After fifty years of working exclusively with paint, a three-hour clay workshop in Oaxaca (with a very patient teacher) revealed to me the pleasure of working with clay, The tactile experience was not unlike the feeling of sinking my fingers in soil while gardening, or immersing my hands in a mound of dough to make a piecrust. This newfound love rekindled my connection with the earth and inspired a deeply personal exploration. The earthiness of the clay brought to mind the image of a chimpanzee, an animal that I have felt an empathic response to for many years. They are that species of ape that are our closest living relatives, sharing 98 % of our DNA. Their bodies are a lot like ours, and their facial expressions so relatable.
As a painter my work has always been about my desire to capture a likeness and the feeling of my subjects, always working to achieve a freer and more expressive approach. With the same intent, I have turned to clay creating unembellished portraits of these sentient beings.