The Artful World Of Animals
Group Exhibition
The Artful World Of Animals
University Hall, The University of Melbourne
September 2013
The Artful World of Animals featured the world’s most spectacular and loved creatures, large and small, exotic and familiar, both from animal and human perspectives. Contributors were invited to develop critical and creative interpretations on animals, using an array of mediums, art styles and techniques. Some questions, which exhibitors explore in their artworks include: Is there such a thing as animal perspective, and what might this world look like? What kind of interactions exist between human beings and animals? What are the impacts of human beings on the animal world? What sentiments are stirred within and between animals, and towards animals? Contributors were able to creatively address the biology of animals, from single cells to ecosystems. Using abstraction or figuration, symbol or metaphor, exhibitors were invited to think divergently on the theme and combine nature, animals and art in a myriad of ways. From the curious to the marvellous – The Artful World of Animals is a testament to the importance of animals to human culture.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Purnima has a zest for the natural and animal world, particularly its representation in visual art. Since her migration to Australia in 2005, Purnima has been avidly exploring the coastlines, countrysides and cities of Australia, taking with her a camera and the artists’ toolkit to imaginatively document the riveting spectacles of nature.
The photography series Artful Animals (2011–2012) depicts a selection of mammals and birds that Purnima has encountered during her travels in Australia. Using digital manipulation techniques, Purnima questions the nature of subjectivity in perception, which often complements human’s understandings of animals. She accentuates the colours, shapes, forms, textures and contrast in the images, conveying both the real and whimsical. This series, along with The Wild (2012–2013), examines the mischievous, poised, endearing and powerful, nature of animals – first impressions of many, that humans instinctively imbue upon animals.
The photograph Mali (2010), encapsulates the tensions between conservation and animal justice. An overnight sensation, Mali was born in Janurary, 2010 unknowingly becoming the first female elephant to be born in Australia, the first elephant to be born through artificial insemination, and the first elephant born in Melbourne Zoo. Purnima along with thousands of other visitors have caught a glimpse of the calf. The photograph rejoices zoos’ support for endangered Asian elephants through the zoos’ regional endangered species conservation breeding programs. Public education programs about species conservation and management, including the beginning of a self-sustaining elephant herd in
Australasia are some optimistic rewards. While Mali appears innocuous and endearing in this photograph, viewers cannot neglect the artificial enclosure in which she is housed in the inner suburbs of Melbourne. This image resonates with Purnima, having been raised in Thailand where elephants journey freely in their homeland. Mali foregrounds a dichotomy between the sheer exhilaration of life, and a lifelong and innocent unawareness of inheritance.
GALLERY
ARTWORKS
The Exhibition
