Objects of A Human
Objects of A Human
Showing at 250 Gallery, Ponsonby, Auckland
Wed 5 June until Fri 28 June 2024
Opening night, Wed 5 June between 5-8pm
Objects of A Human delves into the profound connections between humans and the objects that hold personal significance. As humans, we often put significant value in things that are sentimental. Karley uses these objects to symbolize moments, events, times, places, people, and feelings from her own life experiences.
Objects of a Human showcases the power of objects as both seducers and comforters, carrying with them the fragrance of memories and human emotions. Using the vessel as a symbolic meaning, each piece is filled with a unique and often incommunicable significance, celebrating themes of death, beauty, nostalgia, grief, life, love, and longing.
The vessel represents a safe and protected space where memories and emotions are contained, consciously acknowledged with a nurturing and accepting attitude towards our emotional experiences. It symbolizes more than a container holding something within; it is a boundary-less space that contains invisible yet tangible memories.
Karley's new series employs a radical approach to botanical forms, using them as symbolic references within the vessels. The objects have taken on mutations of flora and fauna, drawing inspiration from animism where each piece contains something from nature, something once owned by another person, or both.
Through her surreal approach to taxidermy and sculpture, Karley constructs a dialogue between the outside world and our inner selves, inviting contemplation, connection, and a renewed appreciation for the beauty and complexity of life. Objects of A Human invites viewers to contemplate their own relationships with objects infused with memories.
“My interest in taxidermy began as a fascination with both the animal-object, and a particular interest in the aesthetic side of the natural and unnatural sciences. Where some of us turn away from death and I see the possibilities. My work is an exploration of these possibilities and an attempt to understand animals and our obsessions with nature, beauty and death.
This new body of work expands even further on my appreciation and fascination with nature, drawing reference from all forms of radical flora and fauna, engaging with plants as a means of practicing self-examination. I appreciate the work that goes into creating the illusion that it is alive, in both the animal world and plant life”.