Once upon a studio in Toronto, Canada, Christy Langer brought to life a community of porcelain colored animals of all shapes and sizes. Some are delicate and teeny while others are vicious and horror stricken, each laden with heavy emotional undertones. Take a walk through Christy’s studio and read below to see what she has to say about Meticulous Engagements opening April 3, 2024 at The Shooting Gallery.
“These sculptures are a continuation of my working practice as a sculptor; illustrating the distortion of remembered experience. Currently I am thematically engaged with the natural world. These animals appear as apparitions of their normal state, embellished by the marriage of the gradual ingestion and manipulation of reference.”
“Each work is a three dimensional illustration of remembered experience; some works are based on first person experiences, some come from a third party point of reference. Each work begins with a memory or image I would like to illustrate originating from one of these sources.”
“The imagery I choose to illustrate represents imagery initiated from the origin of reference. These animals appear as avatars of their natural state; each work is simultaneously a conflict of accurate representation and mutable interpretation. Often the pose, wound, etcetera is a signifier for the viewer, these signifiers enable re-access to the original context despite manipulation of the subject.”
“In Meticulous Engagements, both Kris and I reconfigure that which already exists to our own devices; Kris manipulates objects, I manipulate experience. During the process of restructuring, we both achieve a personalized visual language deviating from previously existing models. Also, our work aesthetically shares an affinity towards the macabre. I feel both us of recognize the beauty in the grotesque, and invite the viewer to share this appreciation with the care and consideration that goes into producing each work.”
“I’m fascinated by the prolific desire people have to record and document their surrounding environments; I draw a lot of my inspiration from artists predating the 18th century, and the labour intensive methods needed to achieve this aim before the development of photography. What largely draws me to this era is the personalized imprint that is seemingly unavoidable without the aid of a machine; each portrait, painting, sculpture ecetera serves as a record of the subject, as well as the artist who produced the work. The resulting efforts are often an embellished impression of reality, a characteristic I embrace within my own practice.”
Photos © Christy Langer
Leave a Reply