beth cavener stichter – ultrawolvesunderthefullmoon

Beth Cavener Stichter and Alessandro Gallo, “Tangled Up in You”, Ceramic, 2014

Beth Cavener Stichter’s sculptures have an intensely-visceral quality. The ceramic animals she hand-builds demonstrate an human-like sense of understanding with their sensitive gazes and anthropomorphic eyes. But despite their thoughtful countenances, these characters are also perfectly at home in their animal skins. Cavener Stichter’s work does not shy away from the brutality of the animal world, from its untamed sexuality to its endless cycle of predator and prey.

Stichter recently collaborated with Italian artist Alessandro Gallo, who embellished her latest sculpture, “Tangled Up in You”, with painted tattoos reminiscent of traditional Japanese tattoo art. The 65-inch-tall sculpture (15 feet total, from the top knot of the rope to the floor) shows a lanky rabbit intertwined with a snake in mid-air. It is unclear whether the two figures are caught in a struggle to the death or a passionate embrace.

Beth Cavener Stichter, “A Rush of Blood to the Head”, Clay

Clay sculptor, Beth Cavener Stichter has a unique approach to the artistic expression of the emotional human experience, through animals. Titled “A Rush of Blood to the Head,” the title of a Coldplay song, her sculpture depicts two male goats standing on their hind legs, their mouths locked in a passionate embrace.

“I select animal subjects since the animal body is removed just enough from my own to establish a distance, yet the personal relationship is irresistible. Here, I become far enough away from myself to unravel questions previously tangled in a self-conscious quagmire.”

Her creatures seem to embody the same consequences as humans, yet they are cloaked in animal skin. “Beneath they are experiencing the impacts of aggression, territorial desires, isolation, pack mentality … I want to pry at those uncomfortable, awkward edges between animal and human.”