CFile’s exhibition, Trophies and Prey: A Contemporary Bestiary, is on display at Peters Projects in Santa Fe until Oct. 3rd. Among the artists on diplay is Beth Cavener, who wowed us with animal sculptures that read like allegories of more complex and distressing human emotions, often with a psychosexual element.
Above image: Beth Cavener works in exhibition at CFile’s contemporary ceramic art show at Peters Projects in Santa Fe. Photograph courtesy of the gallery.
Cavener’s work was highlighted recently in a video that ended up under the “staff picks” of Vimeo. Filmmaker Bas Berkhout and photographer Marjie Kulper work together on a film series titled Like Knows Like, which Berkhout describes as a series personal stories of makers that may otherwise go untold on social media or traditional web content platforms. He states of Cavener:
The sculptures Beth Cavener creates focus on human psychology, stripped of context and rationalization, and articulated through animal and human forms.
Cavener wants to pry at those uncomfortable, awkward edges between animal and human. Entangled in their own internal and external struggles, the figures express frustration for the human tendency towards cruelty and lack of understanding. Something conscious and knowing is captured in their gestures and expressions.
Please enjoy the above video as you gain a deeper appreciation for Cavener’s talent. As a bonus in this post, we’re also including a demonstration given by Cavener and Doug Fitch at the International Ceramics Festival in 2013.
Love contemporary ceramic art? Let us know in the comments.
Thank You so much for sharing this video. Beth Cavener is one of my favorite artists and to hear her reasons for making the figures she makes and an insight to the process is so fascinating. Her total immersion and insights carry such influence. Glad to show that sculpture is never an easy process but a well thought out execution.