ANIMAL NATURE

 

featured works

 
FamilyKitchen.jpg

Family kitchen, 2013

When we moved to Massachusetts, I had no friends or family around, no places to go, no things to do. With my husband at work all day long, I started to spend a lot of time with my pets. It is because of Rocco, Lola and Nina that this project was born. Suddenly I realized that besides adapting to a new environment I was also adapting to my peculiar gang, and strangely enough, it wasn’t hard to do.

 
LeCat&LeFish.jpg

Le Cats and Le fish, 2014

Nina, my black cat, is my companion, while a fish is my food or Nina’s food. But a fish could also be someone else’s pet or the inspiration for an ornament on the wall. Both animals could also be the main character in a story.

 
AnimalDancing.jpg

Animal Dancing, 2012

There is animal in human, not only literally, but also in a frightening meaning. As children we get domesticated, and some better than others, learn to subjugate that wild nature in order to be socially accepted.

 

Pollito Chicken, 2015

Awarded First Prize at Fun House: Art of the Surreal, Fantastic and Bizarre, National Juried Contemporary Art Exhibition, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY, 2016

 
WindowShopping.jpg

Window Shopping, 2012

One fine day I found Nina very attentive to the window. The only camera I had at hand was a medium format Yashica D (film), which I had bought in an antique fair the year before. I had no light meter and the film was about to run out, but I managed to make some shots. As a photographer that usually stages her images, I have to admit that I also have learned to observe and to enjoy the gift of the "lucky moment".

 

In 2011, to escape the violence in our homeland, Mexico, my husband and I packed up our dogs and our cat and moved to Massachusetts. Once here, our pets started living inside the apartment with us. It was then, when spending most of my time in their company, that I realized how similar we could be to animals. I started a series of staged photographs called Animal Nature, based on the disturbing relationship we have with animals, on the way we categorize them. Some are beloved companions while others do work for us, are our food or both. We create objects that represent them, we give them names and personalities, yet we eat them. Derrida explains how distinguishing them as animals allows us to justify the violence we inflict upon them. The goal of Animal Nature is to make people aware of how we use animals when we are also a type of animal. Like them, we also have basic needs, meeting those needs take us closer to our animal nature, but we don’t usually think of ourselves as animals. How would it be like if we were farther down the food chain? It would be another animal eating our offspring for survival. Animal Nature talks about the animal-human interaction, mainly the one I have with my pets and with the animals that are part of my everyday life, including those who become news because of the abuse they endure.

 

more works from animal nature

EDITION AND SIZES INFORMATION

All prints are inspected for quality, made directly by Ileana or by a professional printing studio using fine art archival inkjet paper. Prints are shipped in a tube.

Small size (edition of 20)

  • Square works 12"x12"

  • Rectangular works 12"x18"

Medium Size (edition of 15 + 3 AP)

  • Square works 16"x16"

  • Rectangular works 16"x24"

Large Size (edition of 10 + 2 AP)

  • Square Works 20"x20"

  • Rectangular Works 20"x30"

For acquisitions, please email ile at ileanadobleh dot com, or use the Contact Form

These works are also available for licensing. Please contact me with details about commercial use.