#HTE

New Stoneware Animals Fraught With Human Emotion by Beth Cavener

Through an Empty Place (The Fox Emerging from Shadow), 2017. Stoneware, paint, wood. 47h x 67w x 12d in

Through an Empty Place, detail

Beth Cavener (previously here and here) creates large animals that each appear to wrestle against their implied captivity. The works can be viewed as animals in the throws of domestication, however beneath the surface lies a peek into our own human psychology. Cavener projects these emotions onto her sculpted clay figures, showcasing the primitive animal instincts that lie beneath our own exteriors.

“Both human and animal interactions show patterns of intricate, subliminal gestures that betray intent and motivation,” said Cavener in an artist statement. “The things we leave unsaid are far more important than the words spoken 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 incline of the head, and the slightest unconscious gesture. I rely on animal body language in my work as a metaphor for these underlying patterns, transforming the animal subjects into human psychological portraits.

Cavener’s solo exhibition The Other opens on November 15th at Jason Jacques Gallery in NYC, and runs through December 5, 2017. You can view more of the artist’s work on her website.

Kept (Variation in Cream and Grey), 2017. Resin-infused refractory material, paint, rope, wooden base. 12h x 24w x 28d in

Beloved (Rearing Deer), 2017. Stoneware, paint, bone, rope, steel. 112h x 36w x 48d in

They (Hare on Fur Pillow), 2017. Stoneware, paint, rabbit fur, foam. 34h x 73w x 30d in

Tribute (Wolf and Monkey), 2017. Stoneware, paint, hand-forged steel collars and chain. 46h x 58w x 31d in

Commitment (Two Goat Heads), 2015. Stoneware, paint, leather, steel chain, mixed media. 28h x 78w x 26d in

Commitment, detail