November 2008

Telling Tails by Elisabeth Scarpace

Telling Tails is a series of portraits of the artist's friends and acquaintances. The work draws on Native American beliefs about the connection between animal and human souls and the artist’s belief that "we begin to define our personalities, hopes, and desires through metaphoric associations with animals."

Scarpace has incorporated animals into her portraits, creating images of what she calls "hum-animals". With these, she explores the role animals may play in the quest each of us pursues to find our unique self. The work conjures up reflections, both whimsical and profound, about our personal relationships to the natural world and animals - as well as our society’s contemporary perceptions of animals. The work questions the ideas we project onto animals, which shape our understanding of them and their relationship to ourselves.