2010, Pyrography and carving on panel, 24"w x 18"h
In much of Western culture, the dog is a symbol for tenacity, determination, faithfulness and friendship. Dogs have been a part of human culture for thousands of years, living alongside us as devoted companions, protectors, caregivers and guides. They have long provided lonely, ill or discomforted people with the therapy of unspoken warmth and unconditional love. Jungian theory asserts representations of animals in art function as symbols of the human primitive, instinctual nature and of transcendence. This body of work functions as a site of transubstantiation; where the traumatic effects of loss and mourning are sublimated through visceral acts of burning, gouging, carving and scraping of wood surfaces. These intense, aggressive emotions are effectively transformed into smoky, dream-like images that instead speak to the illusory world of memory and desire.
A Daimler Company
