Little Girl

by Kate Clark , 2008

Caribou hide, foam, pins, clay, thread, rubber eyes

The sculptor of Little Girl, Kate Clark, creates work that takes wild animals and creates human faces to put on them. This work is a unique combination of taxidermy and the depiction of the human face. This combines nature and the human anatomy which is both interesting and captivating. Kate Clark has a history of taxidermy in her works. Some of her exhibitions include “Dead Animals and the Curious Occurrence of Taxidermy in Contemporary Art”, “Fairy Tales, Monsters, and the Genetic Imagination”, “The Sum of Their Parts” and “Cute & Creepy” (Wikipedia). With an artistic portfolio featuring works with names like this, Little Girl makes perfect sense.

While Kate Clark does utilize animal hides similar to that of a taxidermist, she uses an approach that is a little different that most others. Clark seeks to re purpose hides that are considered ruined by taxidermists (in particular in the face region). She then stitches the hides with care in order to bring them back to their previous glory. When asked about the combination of the human face with the animal hide, Kate Clark states, "This is not in an effort to create a creature from fantasy or nightmares, but rather to confront the viewer with mankind’s innate connection with the animal kingdom by evoking empathy, curiosity, and, sometimes, discomfort."

The visual of the deer with the human face can be taken many ways, however, in the book Citizen, it is a representation of separation between two different types of things. Kate Clark states briefly on her website that she believes there is a separation between humans and animals. Humans separate themselves as from the animal world because they are higher functioning than animals in society. After reading the book, the theme of racism is emphasized and Rankine includes writing about Serena and Venus Williams, sisters who are African American tennis players. They are both discriminated against because of the color of their skin, even though they are both outstanding tennis players. Because the author included this section, the connection between the deer and the book is the separation between people and people and people and animals that has been created in our society. Humans continue to struggle with treating people or animals unfairly because they lack or have something that we don’t like.

Links:

https://newcombartmuseum.tulane.edu/portfolio-item/kate-clark/ (Provided visuals of the artworks beyond what were provided in Citizen by Claudine Rankine)

http://proof.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/24/a-twist-on-taxidermy-blurs-the-boundaries-of-humanity/ (A source which provides an interview discussing Kate Clark's Process)

http://www.kateclark.com/ (A source which provides an overall portfolio of Kate Clark's works.)

https://beautifulbizarre.net/2015/01/27/human-animals-kate-clark/ (Source which specifically focuses on the taxidermy pieces done by Kate Clark)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5ONTXHS2mM (Desiigner "Panda" video) In this music video, you can see the musician, Desiigner, wearing a custom panda mask made for him by artist Kate Clark featured in the final 15 seconds.

~ Research by Celia Kline, Dustin Kiser