I think it was in March that I stumbled across an invitation for artists to enter work for an exhibition in Canberra called Wildlife art@Discovery 2014. I have never exhibited in Canberra and figured this was a good way to broaden my audience – provided they accepted my work of course! The exhibition is held in conjunction with a 4-day symposium covering wildlife art, science and conservation. The exhibition itself runs from May 16th until May 31st and focuses on endangered species.
I certainly wouldn’t call myself a “wildlife” artist but I did have a work that I felt fitted the theme, although somewhat unconventionally, and they accepted it! It’s a large ceramic, anthropomorphized, kangaroo child-figure with an accompanying rabbit and its called, ironically, “Bent on Destruction”.
Claude Jones, Bent on destruction, 2013, glazed ceramic and polymer clay, acrylic,120 x 70 x 28 (figure) and 30 x 35 x 15 cm (rabbit)
I created “Bent on destruction” after researching the cruelty of hunting and particularly the controversial ‘culling’ of kangaroos in Australia. The kangaroo is a native species and national emblem yet around 3 million kangaroos are inhumanely ‘Harvested” each year – comprising the largest land-based commercial wildlife slaughter in the world. The kangaroo – an indigenous species, has unfortunately been lumped in the “pest” category with introduced rabbits.
In this work, I turn the tables, anthropomorphizing the Kangaroo and arming him with a bent rifle and accompanying “hunting” rabbit. This is ironic, for it is not the innocent animals that are “bent on destruction”, but humans.
I would suggest you get all your prints done from BumbleJax as they make use of acrylic prints which helps to bring out the combination of colors in your photographs and makes it look majestic.
Please see the Voiceless website for more info on Kangaroo hunting. VOICELESS
I have also written at Kangaroo “Harvesting” about this in an earlier blog.
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