In Bocca al Lupo

source: followtheblackrabbit

There are primitive animal instincts lurking in our own depths, waiting for the chance to slide past a conscious moment. The sculptures I create focus on human psychology, stripped of context and rationalization, and articulated through animal and human forms. On the surface, these figures are simply feral and domestic individuals suspended in a moment of tension. Beneath the surface they embody the impacts of aggression, territorial desires, isolation, and pack mentality.

Both human and animal interactions show patterns of intricate, subliminal gestures that betray intent and motivation. The things we leave unsaid are far more important than the words we speak out-loud to one another. I have learned to read meaning in the subtler signs; a look, the way one holds one’s hands, the tightening of muscles in the shoulders, the incline of the head, the rhythm of a walk, and the slightest unconscious gestures. I rely on animal body language in my work as a metaphor for these underlying patterns, transforming the animal subjects into human psychological portraits.
I want to pry at those uncomfortable, awkward edges between animal and human. The figures are feral and uneasy, expressing frustration for the human tendency towards cruelty and lack of understanding. Entangled in their own internal and external struggles, the figures are engaged with the subjects of fear, apathy, violence and powerlessness.

Something conscious and knowing is captured in their gestures and expressions. An invitation and a rebuke.
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source: artsobserver

A new collection of life-like sylvan creatures is on exhibit at Claire Oliver Gallery. Sculpted by Beth Cavener Stichter and finished with amazingly detailed, painterly surfaces, they appear to be plucked from a fairy tale. A few key details, however, betray a more primal narrative.

Here is how Cavener Stichter describes her work on her website: “The sculptures I create focus on human psychology, stripped of context and rationalization, and articulated through animal and human forms. On the surface, these figures are simply feral and domestic individuals suspended in a moment of tension. Beneath the surface they embody the impacts of aggression, territorial desires, isolation, and pack mentality.”

The gallery describes Cavener Stichter’s ceramic process thus: “She begins with a solid block of terra cotta, taking care to create her signature “painterly” sweeping strokes in the clay. Cavener Stichter then cuts the work into small, manageable sections, severing the limbs and torso at the joints to re-work and re-articulate the musculature, skin, and fur. The next step is to painstakingly hollow out each section until it is very thin and thus fires to an extreme strength. After the kiln, she re-assembles the pieces and paints the finished work.”
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source: peupledepapierblogspotcombr
Cette artiste a choisi de nous révéler les instincts primitifs qui se cachent dans nos propres profondeurs.
Il en résulte des sculptures mi animales mi humaines très étudiées au niveau du langage du corps.
Une grande puissance émotive s’en dégage qui nous transporte dans un univers onirique et mystérieux très élaboré.
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source: espaperblog
Beth Cavener Stichter (California, 1972) es una escultora que realiza una obra centrada en la psicología humana, despojada de racionalidad y mostrada a través de formas animales. Capta los momentos de tensión, las consecuencias del miedo humano, la apatía, la agresión y la incomprensión.
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source: bonexpose
Cavener Stichter was born in Pasadena, California in 1972. She was born the daughter of a molecular biologist and an art teacher. As Cavener Stichter writes, ”The connections between art and science have always been at the heart of my work. My mother, a ceramicist, and my father, a molecular biologist, raised me with an appreciation for the world on its most minute and grandiose scale. From my mother I learned the language of clay and the power of ideas passed through hands. My father and I spent hours staring at the night sky, while he stretched the seams of my imagination with tales of recombinant DNA and evolutionary battles on the microscopic scale. Every moment of my memory has been spent investigating the natural world around me.” Beth Cavener Stichter addresses controversial, potentially embarrassing subject matter head on and in direct opposition to the reputation of her chosen medium, clay. By employing this classical genre and emphasizing its primitive and raw characteristics, Cavener Stichter intentionally provokes art-world prejudices. The Artist thrives in the depiction of the provocative, blatantly contradicting the traditional and comfortable uses of her medium and imagery. Cavener Stichter explores child abuse, pornography, self loathing, and insecurity through elegantly crafted goat, hare, and hound proxy. “I select animal subjects,” she says, “since the animal body is removed just enough from my own to establish a distance, yet the personal relationship is irresistible.. Here, I become far enough away from myself to unravel questions previously tangled in a self-conscious quagmire.” Cavener Stichter cajoles the viewer into looking at the darker side of the human condition by cloaking it in animal skin. “There are primitive animal instincts lurking in our own depths, waiting for the chance to slide past a conscious moment. The sculptures I create focus on human psychology, stripped of context and rationalization, and articulated through animal forms. On the surface, these figures are simply feral and domestic individuals suspended in a moment of tension. Beneath, they embody the impacts of aggression, territorial desires, isolation, and pack mentality. I want to pry at those uncomfortable, awkward edges between animal and human.”
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source: wearegages
Beth Cavener Stichter 对于动物的肌肉结构表现有很深的功力。她认为在人的内心深处依然潜伏着动物的本能。试图通过人类和动物行为的相互结合表现出复杂的，下意识的心理状态。动物和人类之间的界限是模糊的。她的作品同时也是对人类残酷行径的一种有力批判。