These 5 dogs, sculpted by myself, form part of a lineup to create an installation called: (Non) Judgement.

Created in collaboration with Cristina Salvoldi – that cat person, the challenge became about allowing our natural bias and individual styles to come through in each piece, within the inherently judgmental process of creating a sculpture.

At one point, we stood back and looked at our work, lined up on a table… and felt judged!

Our pieces returned our stare and the dynamic had been switched.  From this point, the larger concept of the human/animal relationship grew, along with the question of who was judging who.

Title: (Non) Judgement:

Medium: Originals are fired ceramic

Currently on display at the Museum of Dogs at 95 Keerom Street, Cape Town

Reproductions in Traditional Plaster of Paris available for order at Plaster Art

The idea is an installation of a “lineup” of portrait busts of cats and dogs. The themes we were working with are that of the human/animal relationship and challenging this with the confrontational nature of the sculptures and their presentation as a group that are intensely staring at the viewer.

Our human vocabulary is full of terms that appropriate the animal nature of cats and dogs and use them to describe ourselves and those around us.

eg: Dogged determination, being a bitch, in the dog box, catty, throw me a bone, tail between legs, claws out, pussy, doggy style

We anthropomorphize and project our humanness onto them while seeing ourselves reflected in them.  However, this is in the context of humans as the owners, keepers of animals.

With this installation, we use different breeds of cats and dogs to draw on the viewers’ familiarity with these animals – to let their guard down and relax into this understood relationship.

However, displaying them as an eyelevel group lineup becomes both intimidating and challenging in its unusual perspective and the intensity of the collective looks that are focused on you – forcing you into a new dialogue that questions the inherent understanding of the relationship.

The bust format is classical and usually used to portray figures with entitlement.  Having the animals as these subjects again challenges the relationship dynamic. Keeping the sculptures monochrome strips the cats and dogs of their unique characteristics so that preconceived notions are removed putting the viewer into an unfamiliar/uncomfortable space.