Still Life

Still Life relates to nostalgia for a time when humans related more directly with a wilder landscape, and alludes to our ever increasing alienation from the natural environment.

Most of the work is of animal trophy heads or skulls but is made from our family’s trash. Bison I was created out of actual bison fur and represents the bison as a primordial and mythic beast. It was inspired from finding loose bison fur from the zoo while on a neighborhood walk.  It took further inspiration from two trips to Alaska, and the many trophy heads I saw there, how hunters try to capture the beauty and wildness of creatures that have become quite rare in nature. Bison II was made from three years’ worth of our family’s clear plastic recycling and is in direct contrast to Bison I.  Both bison heads have video projections inside, which add a conceptual layer while creating an interactive element that has become increasingly important to me.

Suzanne Proulx