Fauna

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on December 21, 2021 at 7:59pm

Curator’s Comment:

I can’t help but wonder if it’s coincidence that Fauna was featured in a random sampling of work on the site on today’s Winter Solstice. The mysterious animal-human hybrid subject conjures cyclical events in nature, and of course, death is evoked in the prominent positioning of the skull. The white robes on the figure provide visual contrast in the muted color photograph, and I find it intriguing the antlers echo the color and linear shapes of the branches in the surrounding forest. The red thread loosely woven through the antler could relate to human entanglements, blood, or selection of left over right, etc. Whatever ritual is implied in the juxtaposition of these natural forms including the sun-shaped ornament, the human figure is both set apart from nature, and simultaneously is a part of its tone and texture. Looking back through your other photographic images, I remember enjoying the surreal Male Nudes in Flowers. They appear to share the same background. While Fauna doesn’t present a gendered narrative in the manner the viewer understands in Male Nudes, the animal/anima persona is a jarring image that similarly confronts a spiritually primal relationship.