Final Capstone Exhibition
The following features prints from my final capstone exhibition, The Weight of Your Plate, on display April 19th - April 28th in the Denison Museum at Denison University.
This body of work explores my past experience visiting farms near Granville, Ohio and my newfound curiosity and criticism for Animal Agriculture. I explore the body, both that of the livestock, and that of humans, and question what the cost of our consumption really is.
Barricade
9.5 x 8 in.
Throughout this series I recognize a main theme of bodies and barricades. In what ways are we constrained by barriers, and how can visual imagery display, and question this relationship?
In this print I see parts of different bodies, and the singular gaze of the center subject. The two bodies on either side of the subject are cropped out of the frame and their heads are removed from the photograph. The most distinctive identifying feature of their bodies are the udders. For a dairy cow, the udder is the bane of her existence, the primary piece of the machine in a factory of many.
Lineup
9.5 x 8.5 in.
Lined up and ready to stand, constrained by bars that keep them in place. Ready to be poked, prodded, touched and assessed. In what ways does the body of a dairy cow belong to her? In what ways does it not? How do our bodies belong to us, and in what ways do they become objects?
Whether a cow waiting in a milking stall, or a woman in a doctor examination, parts of your body become separate from yourself: a piece within a larger machine.
Untitled I
11.5 x 9 in.
The photo I referenced in this piece was one of my favorite photos from Farmscape. What inspired me to make this into a print within this series was the challenge of capturing the textural elements in the photograph and translating that rich texture and depth into a print. Using this photo was a challenge, as I did not want it to appear as merely a direct translation of a photographic image into a print, but instead hoped to give a new context to the subject with a more pointed view. The dark tones behind the cow, and the expression within the eye give an eerie feeling of dread, while the confines of the bars at the top and bottom imply a sense of containment. It is the livestock that are physically constrained by these barriers, however, it is our culture that constrains us to believe that animal protein is necessary and precious to our American diet?
Working Proof of Untitled III
12. 5 x 11.5 in.
Multiple plate registration
Considering the theme of bodies and barriers, and combining this inquiry with a recent diagnosis of breast cancer within my family I was inspired to think further about the connection between our food and our bodies.
In Audre Lorde's The Cancer Journals she makes multiple claims about the connection between animal fat and the increase in breast cancer among American women. There are conflicting studies on the relationship between animal fat and cancer, as well as a strong pushback from the Dairy industry into studies about this relationship. Considering my own acceptance of cancer, perhaps this is merely an attempt to find a source of blame for the occurrence.
Whatever the reasons, causes, the in-between, this multiple-plate registration print reflects my own investigation both of the personal, and of the political.
Free the Udder
8.5 x 6 in.
Exploring the theme of body, I wanted to feature a viewpoint that connected a dairy cow more closely to human anatomy. In our society, a woman's nipple exists in a dichotomy. Breasts are over-sexualized in advertising, yet a woman is shamed when seen breastfeeding in public. Connecting the humanlike qualities of this round udder, and the figural shape of the cows underside draws a parallel to the female form, and raises the question: why do we drink another species breastmilk?
Untitled II
9 x 11.5 in.
Without the context of the other images in the series, I wonder, would the viewer immediately recognize this Bovine tongue? The whisps of hair are inherently bodily, while the theme of barriers and barricades repeat within the print. I feel this print achieves an abstraction of "just another cow image" and points the viewer more towards considering the body, and its mysteries. In what ways are bodies scrutinized, poked, prodded, and impacted by exterior sources and influences? And what connection exists between the bodies of a food source, and the human body on a cellular level?
This image largely influenced my next series of work shown below.
Tools of the Trade
9 x 8 in.
I wanted to demonstrate how disconnected we as consumers are from the process in which our food is produced. To me this contraption pushes away the pleasant illustration of a farmer on a stool milking his cow, and puts into focus the industrial side of food production.
Mother
9 x 6.5 in.
The blank expression of this cow, and the clear separation between the animals and the viewer reflects the divide between people and their food source. I aimed to use a variety of textures and tonal ranges to create weight within this print. Similarly, the round bodies of these cows, and the inclusion of the udder on the mother cow continue the theme of the body.
Youth
12.5 x 7.5 in.
A calf lives alone in it's own hutch, fenced in near others, but separate. His mother is still producing milk for him, but it is being pumped into tubes that go into a metal canister. Being processed for human consumption. The fate of this calf is unknown, and many people would perhaps claim they, "don't want to think about what happens next." At first glance this calf looks innocent, angelic even. I aim to draw a contrast between the quaint livestock portraits, and the harsh reality of our current agricultural system.
