Kirsty Whiten
Artist Statement
There is a certain zeal in the way that humans set themselves apart from the rest of nature. To me there is just a continuation, we are animal, we have drives and instincts that always flow just under the surface of civilization. I am really interested in this line between human and beast; language, culture, and tool-making were all once held up as examples of what makes us unique, and have all been shown to exist in other animals.
Death to me is a state of non-being. All of the hopes and prayers lavished on these monkeys are the desire of the living to create meaning and continuation; just as with religion. I have none, and I am totally intrigued and touched by this need in people. My technique, the level of detail and time spent on rendering surfaces has always been a kind of reverence.
I think of these monkey relics as Darwinian saints and sacrifices, adorned with the futile beauty of trying to reach across the veil.
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