Overfield, Rachel

I have set out to observe live and dead exhibits. The theme of drawing animal specimens took me to the Booth museum, in Brighton, and to London Zoo. At London zoo I sat down to draw a gorilla, she came right up to me and seemed to pose which was very unexpected and was documented by film. The glass barrier between the gorilla and myself, and the glass of the camera lense seemed the most controlling aspects to this creative experience. I felt a barrier not just of glass but also of my own distance from my instincts, something we humans often strive against. The instinctive aspect of the animal to human relationship is the focus of my drawings. Engaging in this instinctive activity I felt a respect for and connection to the animals.

Each time I went back to draw the gorilla she would come and sit with me, but I encountered unexpected problems, limiting my access and filming at the zoo. Initially I had permission to draw at the zoo but was later told that I could not sit down and draw the gorilla even though other visitors sit there. My continuing presence instigated many a debate with the zookeepers before they threw me out. This experience provoked new questions; what is the zoo’s role, if not encouraging education and better relations between humans and animals? From my experience it seemed as though the animals are there to be looked at but not learnt from.

Whilst drawing animals in museums and zoos the glass boundaries were ever present, even in contemporary zoos' (Victorian ideals persist.) There seems to be an illusion created by these institutions. It is dictated as to how to think about the animals on show or how to experience them. To some degree our interaction is controlled and packaged.

This in mind, I placed my drawings in Victorian display cabinets’ still containing residue and evidence of the once housed dead exhibit. The exhibit drawings seem neither dead nor live. Boxing up the drawings as if intuition and instinct (our animal side) are controlled and sheathed, mimics taxonomy. Freud promoted the reigning in of our irrational, primal desires and I think this resulted in a contemporary day dislocation that I have experienced in trying to learn from nature, therefore I wanted to represent this experience in my work.

Contact details
Miss  Rachel  Overfield
scruffytechnician@yahoo.co.uk
http://racheloverfield.com

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3D Art
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Installation
Painter / 2D
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