A3 Limited Edition Prints
2022

In humane is a series of work exposing the hidden truths that can lie buried under our skins. It explores disguises and entrapment, both within ourselves and other people who surround us. Also delving into the movement of power and vulnerability which exists within relationships and how people can attempt to project their control onto others.

Animals have been used and depicted in artworks throughout the existence of mankind, both in the hybrid form and also coinciding with humans. However, they have always been used to project the characteristics of physical strength, braveness and heroism within the human character. Here it seems that there is more focus on the complex attributes of the animal found within the human psyche. Intrigued by the weaker more vulnerable side, the curious and inquisitive as well as the darker more troubled undercurrents, which flow between both species. Using creatures to explore what lies within ourselves. Whether acting as a mask, a costume to hide behind or a new creature entirely, the work is revealing the skin of ourselves through the disguise of another.

‘At first glance it is an emperor who stands before, faceted with wealth and splendor, to entice in the eager and vulnerable. The bulbus cloak swells, perhaps from others who have before been lured into its grasp. Like a bird in spring it puffs itself out, in an attempt to express its power, attractiveness and desirability. But it is merely empty, bloated with an ugly arrogance. It feeds on others.

 A flattering front soon melts into disbelief, a gulp and you are swallowed. Inside is an eerie darkness and a stagnant stench, you wonder if you are the first. You begin to feel your self-belief being distinguished and you remain demoralized and trapped. Then you turn around and see, the one who went before. Suddenly you have a sense of being swept out into the universe, surrounded by nothing but stars and no paths insight. ‘  

Written by Jill Tegan Doherty