Posing on Pedestals 2013

This show, entitled Posing on Pedestals, is focused on how job title and position are used and abused as a means of intimidation, status and power within the society in which we live. It is about how a careful construction of character and contrived projection of self is utilised for personal, political or social gain. The daily masquerade or parade has become common place and is explored humorously in this body of work.

Pedestal by definition is a base or support on which a statue is mounted in order to elevate and show a position in which someone is greatly admired, respected or revered. It also invokes feelings of aspiration, envy, jealousy, ambition, growth, achievement, status, coercion and authority. Each pedestal used in this body of work is customized to its individual’s identity as a means of comment or observation about the person’s character and identity masquerade. Sometimes the pedestal will reveal the true aspirations of the individual, sometimes it will act as a safety net, and other times it shows how the job or position is simply a means to an end.

The animal head or portrait is used within the works as a representative mask which deliberately alters the identity of the subject, most of the time in jest. The hybrid figure in my work lends towards creating a new identity while covering up the old, undesired or true self. I like to poke fun as those who hide or masquerade behind their job titles, social or political profiles, and like to humorously reveal and conceal elements about the individual. My amalgamation of the human and animal illustrate an adaptation one has made either by desire or necessity in order to cope with their own personal situation, to fit in and be accepted within society or to elevate and promote themselves as valuable and important.