DEBORAH SIMON'S FLAYED BEARS [TAXONOMY]

'Bears are the ultimate stuffed animals; both the iconic plush toy and the prized taxidermy specimen for hunters. most of all the sculptures deal with vulnerability; the vulnerability that the animals face from environmental degradation, conflicts with people, suburban sprawl and poaching. I particularly find the dichotomy between the defanged, declawed childhood toy and the fierce reality of a top predator fascinating.' -Deborah Simon

"Evolution has always held a particular fascination for me, informing how I create and group the animals in my work. Most of this categorizing method bears little resemblance to how animals and plants exist out in the natural world and I find this disconnect fascinating." - Deborah Simon

Deborah Simon’s work walks the line between taxidermy, toy, and sculpture. She sees archival methods of codifying, labeling, and categorizing scientific specimens as a radical disjunction from their origins in the natural world, and mines this discord as inspiration for her meticulously constructed, and unnervingly uncanny, animal amalgamations. Simon’s work was recently exhibited at packer schopf gallery for context in miami coinciding with art basel miami beach 2013



VIA:
http://www.deborahsimon.net/ http://packergallery.com/simon2/
http://www.designboom.com/