Clay sculptures have always intrigued me, although I have never personally developed an aptitude for it. When I was looking through Beth Cavener’s gallery, I couldn’t help but be amazed at how seamlessly she places human emotion into animal body language. Beth herself is dedicated to this idea that her sculptures mold human and animal behaviors together, as you can read about here.

Specifically, the piece below caught my eye over her others. I first admired the use of a monochromatic color scheme. The dark colors are deceiving; brown is often associated with warm colors, but in this instance, the brown creates a feeling of tension and a physical attachment to the rope that binds the rabbit in place. The addition of the taut rope and the uneven, swirled movement that the clay causes the observer to empathize with this trapped animal. There is a strain both physically and mentally when one is trapped, and both of these are expressed in Cavener’s sculpture through the straightness of the rope that holds the rabbit, as well as the animal’s body language indicating some kind of stress or agitation (this blog discusses signs of agitation in rabbits–backward facing ears and upright tails included).

©2015, Beth Cavener<br /> KEPT<br /> Mixed media sculpture, H 24 x L 12 x W 28 in

©2015, Beth Cavener
KEPT
Mixed media sculpture, H 24 x L 12 x W 28 in

©2015, Beth Cavener<br /> KEPT<br /> Mixed media sculpture, H 24 x L 12 x W 28 in<br /> (closeup)

©2015, Beth Cavener
KEPT
Mixed media sculpture, H 24 x L 12 x W 28 in
(closeup)

In 2012, Cavener did an interview with the blog Gessato in which she discussed how she takes her inspiration from all kinds of people that she examines on a daily basis. She talked about how her work is the result of how she interprets different human emotions, and then portrays them onto animal figures. I think what I find most inspiring about her work is how much detail she is able to convey into these pieces. There is an ample amount of story behind each layer of clay or each stroke of a brush, and the longer that you look at each piece, the more you can see and the more emotional the piece as a whole becomes. I find it remarkable at how well Cavener is able to observe human emotions, and even more remarkable that she is able to translate these onto an animal subject, whereas I still have trouble drawing a stick figure’s face.