Animal Herds
2012-2011 (images are of current installation)
Ink on vellum, cutout animals mounted to wall
12’X3’X42’
‘Pack of Wolves’
Jenn Houle
On view at 301 Gallery
Montserrat College of Art
Beverly, MA
December 19 – January 18
“Animal Herds” is a mobile installation of hundreds of small cut out animal paintings that are assembled directly onto the wall in the forms of wolves. (Images from install at 301 Gallery.) The wolves are composed of the animals that they eat, including deer, caribou, moose, musk oxen, bison, mice and many others. Each prey animal is painted on vellum with radiant color bleeds in fluid ink, which is countered by the specificity of the hand cut animal shape.
Due to massive extermination campaigns and overdevelopment of natural areas, gray wolves are now endangered across most of the U.S. Their struggle for survival hinges on the presence of a healthy and diverse ecosystem, indicated by the wide variety of species that they subsist on. The energy from the prey becomes the energy of the predator upon consumption. The animals mass together to become the predator and change formation each time the piece is installed, creating a new form of existence.
My recent installation while at Vermont Studio Center for the month of August. I’ve been exploring a variety of materials lately including paper mache, felt, ink on vellum cut outs and squeezing paint out like icing. Read up on my experience here and see more images on my website. The theme is structured around the grizzly bear’s diet, the skull pictured is a life size version of ursus major’s dome!
I’ve been loving on the Lee Bontecou lately! She has such an amazing story with her disappearance then reemergence into the art world. She spent decades making work privately in her studio in Pennsylvania after becoming very successful in the late 50’s and early 60’s. The bottom right image is part of a series of work where she foraged for art materials in NYC while young and poor. Her drawings are also amazing. Check out more work on Moma’s website.
Bug Bear (we were all something once, will be again and so on), 2011, Watercolor on Paper, 77”X39” bear sized
This painting examines the Law of Conservation of Energy, the fact that energy cannot be recreated or destroyed. In this piece, I have imagined that upon the death of an organism the particles reorganize to form different species. The bear is becoming bugs, or all the bugs are forming to become a bear. The piece has an accompanying “Bug Bear Identification Guide” which is a drawing and a printed list that identifies all 139 insects in the “Bug Bear” painting.
“Animal Herds” is a mobile installation piece of hundreds of small cut out animal paintings that are assembled in the life size forms of wolves. The wolf is composed of the animals that it eats, including deer, caribou, moose, musk oxen, bison, mice and many others. Each prey animal is painted on polypropylene paper with radiant color bleeds in fluid ink, which is countered by the specificity of the cut animal shape.
It is currently on view at the Artist’s and Craftsman Supply in Central Square, Cambridge MA until September 2nd. Check out installation photos on my blog. In December the wolves will migrate to Frame 301 Gallery at Montserrat College of Art.
The individual animals that compose the herd also serve as their own art piece. Pictured here is a caribou and a young buck grazing. The bottom images are selections from ‘To Those Held Deer’. This is a customizable deer family you choose the number of adults and fawn in your piece! It is currently available through my RocketHub campaign ‘Boston Artist Bear-ly Escapes Vermont Wild’ to help fund my residency at the Vermont Studio Center in August. Campaign ends 8/2!
“Animal Herds” on view at the Artist and Craftsman in Cambridge, MA until September 2nd.
“Animal Herds” is a mobile installation piece of hundreds of small cut out animal paintings that are assembled in the life size forms of wolves. The wolf is composed of the animals that it eats, including deer, caribou, moose, musk oxen, bison, mice and many others. Each prey animal is painted on polypropylene paper with radiant color bleeds in fluid ink, which is countered by the specificity of the cut animal shape.
“Animal Herds” represents the variety of species that once roamed the United States; some of these animals may have even passed through in this very space in Beverly before. Due to massive extermination campaigns and overdevelopment of natural areas, gray wolves are now endangered in the U.S. except for a small number of states. Their struggle for survival hinges on the presence of a healthy, diverse ecosystem, indicated by the wide variety of species that they subsist on. The energy from the prey is stored in the body of the wolf, becoming part of the predator upon consumption. In this piece, the animals herd together to form their predator and change formation each time the piece is installed, creating a new form of existence.
Animals are directly connected and affected by the rhythms of nature. These rhythms exist from the molecular to the cosmic level: an infinite cycle of birth, life, death, that stretches on beyond comprehension. We are all part of this greater cycle. I hope to pass on a deep respect for the complex survival tale of animals that eat, mate and forage in the wild.
Rewards packages for my RocketHub campaign to fund my residency at Vermont Studio Center!! Check it out at http://rkthb.co/8978
“Animal Herds” by Jenn Houle on view at the Artist and Craftsman Supply in Central Square, Cambridge, MA. See more at JennHoule.blogspot.com!
“Animal Herds” by Jenn Houle on view at the Artist and Craftsman Supply in Central Square, Cambridge, MA. See more at JennHoule.blogspot.com!
