BA (Hons) Ceramics 2006 |
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SOPHIE COOPER
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I began my journey by viewing an exhibition in the natural history museum by the photographer James Mollison. The exhibition consisted of large photographs of the faces of great apes. I was particularly inspired by this work as I found that the images brought out humanistic qualities from the animal subjects which connected the viewer with them but did not anthropomorphise them. For this same reason it is important that my modelling is detailed and representational and not anthropomorphic as I aim to provoke the viewer to make connections with the animal rather than to feel connected with an untrue and stylised representation of the animal subject. |
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When watching apes it is difficult to miss the similarities that connect humans to the animal world. Their likeness to humans provokes us to compare ourselves to them, which creates a connection between the human viewer and the animal subject and bridges the gap between the two. I have used orang-utans as the subject of my modelling as I personally find that they cause me to connect in this way more so than the other great apes. The way in which the mother behaves with her baby shows many similarities with humans and their anatomical make up creates obvious links which become emotional connections when seen in context, such as the tiny baby's hands grabbing onto the mothers skin and the way in which the mother carries her baby on her back as if she were a human wearing a papoose. Behaviourally there are great similarities to humans in the way in which they show affection towards one another. It is their facial expressions, that we identify. Although we have the scientific knowledge to closely link ourselves to apes through the comparison of our DNA to theirs, I feel that we as people detach ourselves from animals and see ourselves as worlds apart, creating the two categories of humans and animals. My work aims to bridge the gap between the two and encourage an emotional connection between the human viewer and the animal subject. I have chosen to concentrate on the mother and baby relationship as this is an image to which we instinctively feel connected. 
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