Animal Presence

pastels by Lynnette VanEpps-Smith

may 4 - may 31, 1996 Opening may 5th

Galeria Tonantzin
115 Third Street, San Juan Bautista
hours: 1p-5p, Thurs-Sun 408-623-arte

Artist's Statement

I chose to do this series on Animals in response to a dream I had of a Deer Christ. The Deer Christ was an image that I found appropriate as deer often become the "sacrifice of the sins of man." Following this lead I decided to create a number of images that represent my own love of the animal world and man's use of animal imagery as a magical means to transcend his environment. The first cave paintings were of beasts running free, and in this representation was, I believe, man's recognition of the great power and magic of these fellow creatures.

Today we are perhaps a little more evolved than our caveman ancestors but we have not totally forsaken our need to dominate the "wildness" of our world. Our civilization still looks at nature as capable of perpetual self-replication, inexhaustible, without the need to be responsible for constant abuses. It is this Judeo-Christian, Manifest Destiny thinking that must evolve if we are to maintain what life is still here on this planet.

It is with great sorrow that I think that the animals that have lived on this planet are slowly leaving behind icons of a greatness that was once acknowledged by ourselves as wonderous and terrifyingly beautiful. The animals we take for granted today may exist only in brightly illustrated children's books containing stories of gentle, wise, wonderous beasts who appear to children to lead them to the true nature of themselves and the ways of the earth we walk upon.

Lynnette VanEpps-Smith
April 1996

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Deer Christ

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This image came to me in a dream. It was inspired by a performance artist's piece that I read about. He appeared in a Munich meat market on a pedestal with animal hooves attached to his hands, crossed over his chest, with various cuts of meat at his feet. I thought this was a very powerful anti-meat statement, and somehow this image reappeared in my dream state as the Deer Christ. To me this image is my own visual statement to the waste of hunting and my personal sorrow that the presence of animals among us is so often looked as resources to be plundered, so that my deer literally died for our sins, but are we saved?

Bear

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This image came to me while at the British Museum Anthropology section. The Japanese Aboriginal tribe,the Ainu, are an interesting people. Not only are they fine weavers and textile designers, but they also have a strong involvement with the natural world. In the spring a young bear cub is captured, and brought to the tribe as a mascot. One of the families is chosen to host the young bear and he is fed, fattened, and treated as one of the family. When the bear cub reaches one year old, he is sacrificed in an elaborate ritual which involves the whole tribe. The bear is wined and dined at a feast especially prepared for him by the tribe, unfortunately he attends only as an representation of himself. What attracted me about this ritual was the attention and importance of all steps involved in the process of exhibiting this bear in his honored last supper. The tribe acknowledges the importance of respect to the bear, praying for the well-being of his departing spirit, they honor his passing with a flight of specially made arrows.

Wolf

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I next did this image which was another image that appeared in a dream to me. I was thinking of the primordial fear that wolves still evoke in people, and even though we know on an intellectual level that they are not the scary lurking of the woods, we still as humans maintain a distrust of their intentions. I feel this attitude, old as it is, influences actions taken against the survival of this proud, beautiful beast to the point of extinction.

Rabbit

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I am the proud parent of a mini-lop rabbit, who has been teaching me a lot about being a rabbit. Being the bottom of many a food chain make these shy, cuddly-looking creatures a force of their own. The rabbit also is represented in many world cultures, as the trickster figure. In the African myths, the rabbit brought us fire from the sun, and existed to try the patience of many other creatures. In our culture we have that "rascally wabbit," Bugs Bunny, and Brer Rabbit as descendants of this African myths. What I have learned from my rabbit is respect deems love, and vice a versa.

Badger

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This is another creature that I have had the extreme honor to have been a foster parent for. Being a surrogate mom to a one month old badger was an experience I will treasure for ever. Once I realized the snarling and fierce sounding grunts were actual cries of hunger, I buckled, and have been in love with these creatures ever since. A wild animal never becomes a "pet" and never should. What you learn is the mindset of the animal and the necessity to come to a compromise between himself and you. There is no training, only a mutual love that necessitates mutual respect on both parties. It was the hardest thing to let my "Suzy" go back to the wild state she was born to live out. I can only hope, this solitary, shy soul is allowed to roam this planet forever.

Octopus

This image popped out of a Monotype Workshop I attended. It represents, as does the wolf, another animal that strikes tear deep in the primordial soup of our dreams. I am always impressed with their quiet grace and shy behaviour when I watch them at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

He dreamt they returned from the Abyss - Buffalo

This is the final image in this series. Continuing with the theme of man's relationship to his animal co-habitants, the American Plains Indians came to mind. The Buffalo is one of the most prevalent icons of near-extinction. The Plains Indians were dependant on their buffalo brothers for meat, clothing, and shelter. Even with this dependency, the harvest of these creatures was done by driving huge herds over cliffs. When civilization broke through the boundaries of the American Indian, buffalo were slaughtered for the sheer sport of killing. It is amazing to me the breach of understanding between the american sportsman and the American Indian in their relationship to the buffalo as a fellow being on this planet.

My reflections on the Animal Presence show [QuickTime movie, 5.8MB].
Your system must support QuickTime with Cinepak compression to view the movie.

Deer Christ, Bear, Wolf, and Rabbit photographed by Paul Titangos.
Paul's email address is publius@deepthought.armory.com.

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