Exhibition Document
Small Creatures Such as We is a collection of works strung together with threads, nostalgia, and hope for the future.
Featuring new illustrative works that meditate on the inter-connections in our eco system, puppets and past players in stop motion animations from films which poetically ruminate on our place in the universe, and paintings and self portraits that play with growth and patterns in the world around us. Together they present a playful portrait of how we as humans use culture to relate to the natural world.
From the smallest of insects and the most delicate of flowers, to inspiring trailblazers of the past, and giants of the prehistoric world, we are all connected as passengers on this planet, hurtling through space at 67,000 miles per hour. Carl Sagan had it right when he said that “the vastness is bearable only through love.” Now in a time when we are simultaneously more connected than ever before in history, but also more alone, I believe it is love that has gotten us through. And it is by nurturing: by tending our gardens, by thinking about loved ones, by making knots and sending scarves and hats and teddy bears to those far away, that we are able to grow.
And so this is the work: stitches, knots, bits of wire and paint, ink made from plants, paper dyed with flowers, crochet cabinets of curiosity, and fish you never have to feed. Each meant to bring joy, to bring comfort, to bring magic to life at 12 frames per second, and to remind us that we are not so very different from those small birds building nests, or from the whales singing songs about what they saw in the sea. Big, tiny, or somewhere in between, the world is a stage, this is our circus, we are all small creatures, and, we all need love.
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Stop Motion Animations
You, Me & Carl, 2015, Stop Motion Animation, 3m50s
Animated short with stop motion puppets about two sisters finding their place in the universe. Inspired by Carl Sagan and YouTuber Melodysheep’s “Symphony of Science project.
Self Portrait as Badger, 2016, Stop Motion Animation, 0m25s
A stop motion character animation exercise, in which I am a badger and read my favourite poem
by Leonard Cohen from his 1972 collection The Energy of Slaves.
I Won’t Dance, 2015, Stop Motion Animation, 0m42s
A character acting study with needle felted stop motion puppets. Featuring the vocal stylings of
Frank Sinatra.
Alpaca Zoetrope, 2019, Stop Motion Animation, Loop
An animation test of my Alpaca zoetrope (made with the fluff of a girl named Whirly!) photographed frame by frame on a turn table.
