Draping the Horse

I’ve used the image of human hands in the process of covering or submerging an animal - in this case, a horse being draped in a mound of white cloth - in a number of works to suggest an interaction between human and nonhuman that may equally be about kindness as about cruelty. This image reflects my concern with the unpredictable relationship between humans and the nonhuman world, one moment reverence and closeness, the next, complete disregard. The decorative nature of the work, the circular composition, gold paint and elegance of the figures, alludes to traditions of art image - Japanese prints and Indian miniatures, for instance - where even the bloodiest scenes are rendered with great elegance. It is a device I enjoy ... a means of trickery to mask and then sharpen the edge of the narrative.