Artist Statement for The Hunt

"Another day or two -- and the final transformation occurs. The pupa splits as the caterpillar had split -- it is really a last glorified molt, and the butterfly creeps out -- and in its turn hangs down from the twig to dry. … You will ask -- what is the feeling of hatching? Oh, no doubt, there is a rush of panic to the head, a thrill of breathless and strange sensation, but then the eyes see, in a flow of sunshine, the butterfly sees the world…" wrote the Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov in 1951. Nineteen years earlier American philosopher John Dewey asked, "How shall the individual re-find himself in an unprecedented new social situation, and what qualities will the new individualism exhibit?" Re-finding oneself may require a search.

In The Hunt, dozens of glistening, hanging cocoons evoke images of a meat locker and ideas of metamorphosis. Suspended from the ceiling, four sets of rusty, barbed hoops cage and cradle individual cocoons. A few ghostly forms suggesting body bags occupy the floor. Only after viewers walk through this setting do they find Chrysalis, a translucent-silk, shapely female form hanging on the back wall.

In its sometimes-startling recognition of the familiar, The Hunt celebrates the idea of the ability for transformation and individuality in society. What started as clean, if used, white bed sheets turn into ones identified by rust, hair, paint and thread. After being coated and wrapped around human models, the sheets slowly stiffen into empty husks with their own identities. A cocoon made from a hospital-bed sheet, carefully cradled in rusty hoops, holds translucent-silk pockets of dark curly hair. A sparse black body print marks the interior of an otherwise plain form. A pretty, pink-flowered sheet reveals bits of blond hair barely noticeable amidst its rusty interior. Black and brown stitches suture one cocoon cavity while embroidery embellishes another.

The transformative aspect of The Hunt extends to the process of its creation. Dozens of college students and members of the community worked on the project as models and installation assistants. The circumstance of each casting fills the work with an often-unexpected narrative or symbolic dimension. Subjected to a sometimes-difficult task, the models emerge from their stiffened cocoons as if shedding old skin. The cocoons reveal the physical/emotional state of their models - several young college students seemingly took delight in lying down on cold hard floors. Some even slept as their skins slowly stiffened around them to form beautiful shapes. Models who were not comfortable during the process often shed tight or twisted cocoons. The golden shell of Chrysalis completes the installation, representing in process and product the experience of metamorphosis. In the same way the butterfly leaves behind its pupa, the young woman who modeled for this translucent-silk piece emerged from her cocoon to reenter the world with a new experience. The resulting form acts as a testament to growth.

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