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Human: The Art of Beth Cavener
Winner of the Gold Medal for Fine Art in the 2020 Independent Publisher (IPPY) Book Awards
Winner of the 2020 Independent Press Award for Fine Arts
The animals in Beth Cavener's work are better described as avatars, embodiments of persons or emotions that disguise her subjects. In this way she gives her subjects an expanded identity, pairing each with an animal that, to one extent or another, explains or parallels their behavior. The animal reveals the subject's primal roots and serves as the lens through which we see the evolution of the subject into a modern being. We ultimately come to understand that the human and the animal are inexorably linked together.
The dynamism of Beth Cavener's figures comes from the constant shifting in our minds from human to animal. It is kinetic, releasing emotional energy caused by the disparity between what we see--the animal form--and what we know--that this is a human portrait. Thus the fascination in Cavener's art is perpetual.
Winner of the 2020 Independent Press Award for Fine Arts
The animals in Beth Cavener's work are better described as avatars, embodiments of persons or emotions that disguise her subjects. In this way she gives her subjects an expanded identity, pairing each with an animal that, to one extent or another, explains or parallels their behavior. The animal reveals the subject's primal roots and serves as the lens through which we see the evolution of the subject into a modern being. We ultimately come to understand that the human and the animal are inexorably linked together.
The dynamism of Beth Cavener's figures comes from the constant shifting in our minds from human to animal. It is kinetic, releasing emotional energy caused by the disparity between what we see--the animal form--and what we know--that this is a human portrait. Thus the fascination in Cavener's art is perpetual.
- GenresArt
252 pages, Hardcover
Published November 15, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 1, 2020
Even though this book is an art/picture book and the majority of its pages contains photographs of the artist's sculptures, there are three essays by different authors included as well. This review gives a short overview, what readers (viewers?) can expect, without going too much into detail.
Beth Cavener creates animal sculptures from clay that can be seen as psychological portraits or avatars embodying encounters with people, emotions and herself. This art/picture book provides an overview of the creative work of the artist spanning over the past 20-25 years. Many of Cavener's sculptures are shown with one photo per page (some also take up a double page) with the exception of a few sculptures, for which the details are highlighted using several photos and pages.
In addition, the book contains three essays that deal with the artist and offer different angles from which these animal sculptures can be seen and interpreted:
In his observations, Garth Clark shines a light on the personal motivation of the artist and how it is reflected in her works. But he also writes about the concepts that go with the sculptures and what they can mean. Additionally, this first essay also deals with the material clay itself and why it is so important for Cavener during the work process and how it transports her message. Focusing on certain sculptures, Clark elaborates on the overall qualities of the sculptures as well as the underlying contents, while including direct quotes of Cavener herself.
Ezra Shales examines Cavener's oeuvre from an art-historical perspective and compares it with painters and sculptors of the 18th and 19th centuries, in whose works animals have also played a prominent role. Shales emphasizes the cultural context of those times - how people used to live, how animals were seen back then and to what extent this is reflected in respective artworks. In addition, the author makes several connections to certain works by Cavener, corresponding contexts and writes about the animal and human facets of her sculptures.
Lauren Redding invites us to take a more contemporary artistic and (pop-)cultural approach when encountering Cavener's work. Comparisons to George Orwell (Animal Farm) and Orson Wells (Citizen Kane) are made and the author elaborates on where she sees the connection to the sculptures by Beth Cavener.
At the end of the book there is a chronological overview of all works, each with a small picture + title of the respective sculpture + year, like a catalog list (from 1994 to 2019).
It should be noted that this art/picture book contains no description or technical/methodical details on the process of how the sculptures are created by the artist and also no comments or information on the sculptures by the artist herself (except for the quotes in the first essay, which, however, only make limited references to individual sculptures). - If you are interested in the methods and creative process behind the sculptures, I can only recommend visiting the homepage of Beth Cavener (Follow the black rabbit) for more and in-depth information.
Personal conclusion:
This art/picture book is a project that the artist initiated, developed and accompanied over several years. The book is beautiful and has a superb quality (e.g. paper thickness, cover, structure and sequence of the chapters etc.).
To me it offers a possibility to deepen my interest in Beth Cavener and her sculptures, because as far as I know a complete overview like in this book doesn’t exist anywhere else yet. I find the essays and perspectives of Clark, Shales and Redding particularly enriching when it comes to dealing with the meaning of Cavener‘s works or thinking about interpretation and meaningfulness.
It is also exciting to see how the artist has developed over the course of 25 years, which topics she deals with in her works and how the works achieve different effects. Some do not (yet) trigger anything in me, whereas others affect me very strongly and I can spend hours looking at respective pictures and letting my thoughts run free. There‘s personal fascination and emotional depth, but also the possibility to think about the sculptures in a larger art-discourse context or even bearing relation to socially and culturally relevant topics.
While this view of course differs from person to person, one probably cannot deny that Beth Cavener is able to provide an offer and an invitation to see something in her sculptures.
Beth Cavener creates animal sculptures from clay that can be seen as psychological portraits or avatars embodying encounters with people, emotions and herself. This art/picture book provides an overview of the creative work of the artist spanning over the past 20-25 years. Many of Cavener's sculptures are shown with one photo per page (some also take up a double page) with the exception of a few sculptures, for which the details are highlighted using several photos and pages.
In addition, the book contains three essays that deal with the artist and offer different angles from which these animal sculptures can be seen and interpreted:
In his observations, Garth Clark shines a light on the personal motivation of the artist and how it is reflected in her works. But he also writes about the concepts that go with the sculptures and what they can mean. Additionally, this first essay also deals with the material clay itself and why it is so important for Cavener during the work process and how it transports her message. Focusing on certain sculptures, Clark elaborates on the overall qualities of the sculptures as well as the underlying contents, while including direct quotes of Cavener herself.
Ezra Shales examines Cavener's oeuvre from an art-historical perspective and compares it with painters and sculptors of the 18th and 19th centuries, in whose works animals have also played a prominent role. Shales emphasizes the cultural context of those times - how people used to live, how animals were seen back then and to what extent this is reflected in respective artworks. In addition, the author makes several connections to certain works by Cavener, corresponding contexts and writes about the animal and human facets of her sculptures.
Lauren Redding invites us to take a more contemporary artistic and (pop-)cultural approach when encountering Cavener's work. Comparisons to George Orwell (Animal Farm) and Orson Wells (Citizen Kane) are made and the author elaborates on where she sees the connection to the sculptures by Beth Cavener.
At the end of the book there is a chronological overview of all works, each with a small picture + title of the respective sculpture + year, like a catalog list (from 1994 to 2019).
It should be noted that this art/picture book contains no description or technical/methodical details on the process of how the sculptures are created by the artist and also no comments or information on the sculptures by the artist herself (except for the quotes in the first essay, which, however, only make limited references to individual sculptures). - If you are interested in the methods and creative process behind the sculptures, I can only recommend visiting the homepage of Beth Cavener (Follow the black rabbit) for more and in-depth information.
Personal conclusion:
This art/picture book is a project that the artist initiated, developed and accompanied over several years. The book is beautiful and has a superb quality (e.g. paper thickness, cover, structure and sequence of the chapters etc.).
To me it offers a possibility to deepen my interest in Beth Cavener and her sculptures, because as far as I know a complete overview like in this book doesn’t exist anywhere else yet. I find the essays and perspectives of Clark, Shales and Redding particularly enriching when it comes to dealing with the meaning of Cavener‘s works or thinking about interpretation and meaningfulness.
It is also exciting to see how the artist has developed over the course of 25 years, which topics she deals with in her works and how the works achieve different effects. Some do not (yet) trigger anything in me, whereas others affect me very strongly and I can spend hours looking at respective pictures and letting my thoughts run free. There‘s personal fascination and emotional depth, but also the possibility to think about the sculptures in a larger art-discourse context or even bearing relation to socially and culturally relevant topics.
While this view of course differs from person to person, one probably cannot deny that Beth Cavener is able to provide an offer and an invitation to see something in her sculptures.
September 25, 2021
Cavener's sculptures are stunningly beautiful. One of the things that makes them so striking is that the poses are based on people she knows, people often not at their finest and displaying raw emotions. I spent much time looking at the details with a big smile on my face. Truly great work.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews