Wood Cut Prints & Ceramic Sculpture by Kellë McLaughlin
December 5th – January 15th
Opening reception Friday December 5th 5pm – 9pm
Bestial Mirrors is an elemental exhibition featuring traditional wood cut prints paired with freestanding ceramic sculpture. Kellë McLaughlin is an accomplished sculptor and two-dimensional artist who completes her masterpieces through traditional methods. Her forms are inspired by live models and the corresponding animal imagery is plucked from the internal ether of these subjects. Bestial Mirrors is a sobering reference to our inner animal. Each of these Limited edition prints will be on display at Fulcrum Gallery thusly wrapping up our 2014 year. –Oliver Doriss
Artist Statement:
There is a relationship between animal and humankind that is overt and undeniable. We share innate qualities and characteristics that reveal both the civil and savage nature within beast and man. My work accentuates this relationship not only in its base form but also on an intimate and personal perspective. Each piece reflects an individuals’ introspective persona that is then displayed in the public eye. Every person creates a bond with a particular beast, whether consciously or not, that is perceived to represent our own persona. We glorify ourselves through the eyes of that animal within, using it to justify our deeds and desires, both condemning and exalting it when we feel the necessity. What I strive to do is bring forth an awareness of the light that we shed on the beast within ourselves, our daemon, and why.
My work has deep roots in mythology and fairy tale, using fantastic circumstances to bring forth truths that can provide guidance as well as elaborate beauty. I look at the way Robert Bly dissects the story of “The Wild Man” in Iron John, a novel about the journey from childhood to adulthood and the circumstances and trials one must go through to become a man/woman. I like to use his method as a template through which I interpret individual stories and scenarios and then apply them to my work. In Bly’s novel, the boy must find a way to embrace the “wild man” before he can ever become his true self. Each piece I create reflects that journey and the wildness inside each of us.
The balance and, at times, war between the civil and savage natures inside our persons and how we use that duality as a mask to the outside world is what my work is about.