Catherine M. Stewart

 Skin & Bones , Human and Animal

These images were exhibited as part of the SKIN & BONES exhibition that took place at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum at the University of British Columbia from September 2018 to August 2019. Printed as transparencies, they were displayed in the windows of mat black light boxes along the museum’s dimly lit exhibition corridor. By intersecting photo-details of the human form with images of a variety of specimens from the natural history collections at the museum, I have highlighted human-animal relationships, commonalities, and differences. The essence of the SKIN & BONES project was to ‘touch’ the animal within each of us and, in so doing, shift our perception of nature and our connection to it.

(Read full artist’s statement at the end)

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

“His greatest desire was to know the difference between himself and the beast, and occasionally he became so absorbed in observing it that he truly believed he had sensed for a moment the nature of the creature’s existence.”
Anton Reiser: A Psychological Novel by Karl Philipp Moritz, 1790, translated from German by J.R. Russell

These images were exhibited as part of the SKIN & BONES exhibition that took place at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum at the University of British Columbia from September 2018 to August 2019. By intersecting photo-details of the human form with the images of a variety of specimens from the natural history collections at the museum, I have highlighted human-animal relationships, commonalities and differences. Some images feature hauntingly beautiful specimens cradled within human arms or hands; others were collaged to create surreal compositions more conducive to imaginative interpretation.

Printed as transparencies, the images were displayed in windowed light boxes along the museum’s darkened exhibition corridor. The recurring circular motif, referencing optical devises such as loupes, magnifying glasses, and microscope lenses, signaled the viewer to focus in and closely examine the details of these intimate compositions.

Interspersed between the light boxes were display cases of animal-sourced accessories from the collections of fashion historians Ivan Sayers and Claus Jahnke. The inclusion of museum specimens alongside these accessories emphasized their previous existence as once living creatures. A thought-provoking fashion show “Beastly Habits: the Exploitation of Animals for 20th Century Fashion”, with a commentary by Ivan Sayers, launched the exhibition.

The essence of the SKIN & BONES project was to ‘touch’ the animal within each of us and, in so doing, shift our perception of nature and our connection to it. My intention was to encourage reflection and discourse about our morally complicated relationship with the natural world and, in a small way, foster a more nuanced and balanced understanding of our collective responsibility for maintaining what remains of it.

Review by Alice Fleerackers on Skin & Bones, Art the Science Blog

Copyright © 2022 Catherine M. Stewart. All rights reserved.