Beautiful Beasts Wuon-Gean Ho 18 Sandford Avenue, London N22 5EH wuongean@hotmail.com +44 7711 391 544
In this paper I would like to outline the various functions of representing animals in printed art, and focus more closely on how they have been depicted in the work of Marcelle Hanselaar. In particular I will explore how the portrayal of an animal in close conjunction with the human in a print can intensify or symbolise a range of loaded meanings and preoccupations for us as viewers of such work.
Hope B Werness, in the Encyclopedia of Animal Symbolism in Art, Continuum, New York, 2003)- writes about real and imaginary (even zodiacal animals) in art, from prehistoric to modern times. This includes the central role of animals to many creation myths; their ritualistic sacrifice; the use of their presence as a symbol particularly for fertility or perceived anthropomorphic traits; and in legends of transformation and intermarriage. Cultural and linguistic references to animals exist in every corner of the world.
American Printmaker Chadwick Tolley, says “ I like to think of humans as animals, in their most primal state”, and this raises the issue of our persistent exploration of the difference between human and beast in theological, political, creative and social spheres.
PICTURE SAN PAROLES 3
The portrayal of the beast in Marcelle Hanselaar’s black and white etchings is a natural extension of her exploration of the subject
matters
that
she
deals
with
as
a
painter.
Hanselaar
trained in the Netherlands and was actively painting in the UK when
a
chance
course
in
etching
opened
her
eyes
to
the
possibility of print.
Hanselaar’s works can be defined as feminist in that women are central
to
the
scene.
The
female
protagonist
in
her
erotic,
charged narratives command attention even if they face away from the viewer’s gaze, perhaps to look at themselves in the mirror, or use and abuse, sometimes slaughter, the peripheral men in the tableau. Intense charged emotions, and unconventional depictions of women bring to mind the other work of artists such as Paula Rego and Frieda Khalo, whose work deals with taboos of sexuality, and femininity particularly well.
PICTURE SLIDE LIST ALLY/ DIGUISE/ DESIRE/ COMMENTATOR/ BEASTLY NATURE
The animals that figure in Hanselaar’s prints have various roles, which I have broadly divided into five categories. They act in the
following
ways:
as
ally
and
friend;
to
disguise
or
metamorphose and transform; to express sexual desires; to act as impartial commentator; and to represent how close we are to our animal
nature.
I
would
like
to
introduce
a
few
prints
that
illustrate these points above as follows:
PICTURE UNDER MY SKIN
1) The beasts are seen sometimes as alter-egos or companions to Hanselaar’s central female characters. In “Under My Skin,” in stark visual contrast to the naked women, the beasts- such as monkeys
or
dogs-
are
dressed
in
doll-like
clothing,
and
are
child-like in their innocence, portraying and mirroring a “tender connection” between the two,
PICTURE OPEN SESAME
In her 2007 etching and aquatint “Open Sesame”, the dynamics of authority and dependency are evident in the relationship between the women and dog in the centre of the image. The naked woman, from her gestures, seems to order complicit obedience from the
dog, which has been dressed with an apron. She parts the cloth with her right hand and raises her left half way to her lips, as if to ask for silence. The dog gazes directly into her eyes like a loyal companion. From the shadows of the apron there emerges a naked man, small and ignored, who seems to be an incidental body coming out of the shadows. In the background there are two other odd couples; a pair of voyeurs who wear trilby hats on the left, and
another
man-
who
may
even
be
one
of
the
two
voyeurs
replicated within the scene, who vomits into the receptive mouth of a another naked woman, who cups her breasts and offers them to him.
This enigmatic print, with its beautiful spit bite clouds of fuzzy rich blacks, deals with the issue of the tender connection that she mentions. The dog and the woman are closely bonded and stand out from the other untrustworthy or aggressive people in the scene. In this case, Hanselaar explains that the dog is inside of the woman, as an independent entity, representing “the wild part of us, untamed, and full of raw life which feels like it will devour us�. Here the woman splits the wild beast from her own body and gives it the role of apron wearer, obedient and eager to please. The domesticity of the dog with its clothing calls to mind paintings by Paula Rego that show girl-like women dealing with dogs, in various fantasy roles such as mother and dependent
child,
flirtatious
girl
with
confused
lover
and
playmate and friend. The expression of love and companionship
between
the
woman
and
the
dog
softens
the
emotional
unease
expressed in the rest of the print.
PICTURE RICK BARTOW
2) In particular, the theme of metamorphosis and transformation has been a common theme in legend and myth where people become animals and vice versa. Helen King, professor of history at the University of Reading writes, “The theme of metamorphosis is used to question the established boundaries between human and beast, god and mortal, animate and inanimate, thus becoming a way of exploring the limits of what humanity can do.”
Native American mythology shifter,
with
a
often includes tales of
philosophy
that
may
be
viewed
the shapeas
a
clear
distinction between body and soul: in that the soul may take on many different bodies as disguise. Other theories suggest that cave paintings with creatures that shared human and non-human features
were
attempts
to
depict
shamans
in
the
process
of
acquiring the mental and spiritual attributes of various beasts. Rick Bartow- a Native American artist makes paintings and prints that
illustrate
this
metamorphosis
very
well.
In
“Study
in
Concentration” and “Huntress in Red”, the naked torsos of man and woman each have a kestrel head. The conjunction of the human and the animal have a startling and powerful symbolic effect.
PICTURE GODDESS OF SUBURBIA
Turning now to “The Goddess of Suburbia”, an intaglio print from 2006, the woman is cloaked with the pelt of a horned beast that resembles a deer, and preens her identity in the mirror. Like a visual representation of metamorphosis, she is half woman, half deer. She sits on a wall and there is a fully formed man emerging from her womb. This is, Hanselaar says, in reference to the visual shock that she had when first viewing Kiki Smith’s 2002 sculpture, “Born”, which is a representation of a small deer giving birth to a life sized woman. There are two more characters in the print- a man in a hat whose eyes poke out of the darkness, and a young girl playing the role of Cupid, who aims her bow and arrow towards the newborn man on the ground.
The
antlers
on
the
deer
pelt
function
to
symbolise
sexual
dominance, and confer authority onto the woman, giving her power and height. Her human face is hidden so we have to read her attitude and expression by looking at her posture. Her right foot rests on the newborn man’s neck, suggesting a lack of concern or even contempt for the man that is still emerging from her birth canal. According to the artist, this unpleasant and savage image of this old man’s body coming from her vagina represents
“The
gender
based
power
struggle
underlying
the
uncivilised
unsocial side of ourselves, for which we have no words or voice.”
These emotions do not traditionally fit within prescribed female roles and acts of behaviour- as if by donning the deer hide helps to embrace wild beast-like behaviour. She is changing into a wild thing, with the attributes of sexuality, reproduction and power emphasised.
PICTURE THE RETURN
3) In some images Hanselaar uses the depiction of an animal or animal mask to challenge the idolised female beauty that has been traditionally created for a male gaze. In particular, the use of animals in the scene helps with the portrayal of an animalistic sexual desire.
The woman in this print, “The Return� lifts up her skirt and pulls her underwear down, in a gesture of sexual longing. Here, the central female protagonist has strapped on a mask of a baby bird with its beak open, looking like she is clamouring to be nurtured
and
sustained.
A
shadow
of
a
dog-headed
man-
which
Hanselaar refers to as Anubis- the jackal headed God from Ancient Egypt who guided the dead to the underworld- clasps her from behind with a phallic like sword in one hand. To the left of the scene is a disturbing image of a bent-over child-like figure who wears a carnival style mask on the back of his head.
The straps on the bird mask, the shadowed aggression of the male and the provocative and awkward pose of the child, all create an atmosphere of violent and dark sexual cravings. In this work Hanselaar addresses “eroticism and sexuality as the core of all our actions and being.” She states, “It is like seeing the world with tongues in my eyes. Likability (or the ability to lick our surroundings) is an essential quality in relating to the world . Disgust is the other face of desire: whether you really want to touch something or not it burns in the same place”.
Licking is an action we
watch animals do in their
range of
natural behaviours. It is for grooming, connecting and tasting the world around them. Here Hanselaar broadens the definition of eroticism
to
encompass
our
connection
to
each
other
as
individuals. In particular, she laments the “melancholy of the imprisonment of the flesh”; namely that the quest for (sexual) satisfaction of our longing is impossible to fulfil completely, and she sees the girl in the print condemned to a constant search for gratification.
PICTURE LOT”S WIFE
4)
Alternatively,
the
animals
in
the
prints
can
act
as
a
barometer of the mood, similar to the role of the ancient Greek chorus that summarise the situation helped direct the viewer’s
gaze
and
judgement.
In
this
print,
“Lot’s
Wife”,
(2004)
the
protagonist licks the tongue of a dog mask put on by her lover in front of his face, in a grotesque parody of the act of kissing. The lifelike eye of the dog mask stares out to the viewer, as does the eye of its wearer, in a curious way resembling a pair of eyes in a face that is turned away from the woman. The mask has been used as a prop to extend the face forward so that they may kiss with no other body contact.
In the background on the left there is a dog that sits and howls at the moon, aptly commenting on the drama played out by the central figures in the piece. In Elizabeth Benson’s book “Birds and Beasts of Ancient
Latin
America”, (University
of Florida
Press, 1997), she discusses howling dogs and their associations with death. She writes,
“Dogs are appropriate escorts for the dead. They walk with their noses to the ground. They dig in the earth, bury bones, and hunt in burrows. They eat carrion and make themselves smell of it. They have night vision, they howl at night, they know what is there in the darkness.”
In this print, the howling dog seems to be howling at the death of the relationship between the couple. The dog’s pose is full of emotion and in contrast with the curious distance and lack of passion between the man and the woman in the centre of the scene.
PICUTRE THE FOREIGNER
5) Finally, beastly nature in the form of fur, fangs and dark textured skin or face is closely allied to a deep fear of the distasteful qualities in
humanity. The presence of
body
hair
seems to define the fragile border separating human from beast and thus our animal nature. In popular literature, RL Stevenson writes in 1883 about Henry Jekyll, who wakes to find his hand has changed completely- from "professional in shape and size… large, firm, white and comely… now… lean, corded, knuckly, of a dusky pallor and thickly shaded with a smart growth of hair. It was the hand of Edward Hyde."
In the foreigner, from 2003, the woman’s body has developed an unmistakable
pelt
which
is
creeping
up
over
her
face
and
emphasising a repugnant physicality. Here her feet also appear to have
become
split
like
cloven
hooves.
Being
so
hairy
she
resembles some sort of wolfish goat, and seems trapped by the water
that
hairiness,
swirls her
around
breasts,
her
feet.
genitalia
and
Despite
the
large
wide
grotesque eyes
are
visible, mocking the desirability of the traditional pin up girl.
PICTURE LE MARIAGE 2
In Le Mariage 2, an intaglio print from 2006, the chest of the woman in the foreground has been split open in two by the head of a hairy wolf-like beast (incidentally she has also developed a tail) that stares at the central scene of a copulating couple with
a
furious
expressions
of
expression.
jealousy
and
Here, intense
socially rage
unacceptable
seem
to
be
aptly
portrayed by the beast’s expression. The dark fur and intense lines of the animal is in aggressive contrast to the white flesh on display. The wolf represents the animal desires of the woman that have burst through her skin.
Hanselaar also states the wolf is very symbolic, in that it refers specifically to the wilderness within us as women. This is described in Pinkola-Estes book, Women who run with Wolves, as follows:
"Within every woman there is a wild and natural creature, a powerful
force,
filled
with
good
instincts,
passionate
creativity, and ageless knowing‌ Though the gifts of the wildish nature come to us at birth, society's attempt to "civilize" us into rigid roles has plundered this treasure, and muffled the deep, life-giving messages of our own souls.
Without Wild Woman,
we become over-domesticated, fearful, uncreative, trapped."
Although
I
have
separated
the
function
of
the
beast
in
Hanselaar’s print works into the above categories, she claims
that they are an
unconscious
addition, and develop
naturally
during the process of creating the work. I would like to put forward
a
personal
traditional towards
media,
the
theory,
in
that
particularly
production
of
a
I
believe
intaglio,
scored,
is
rich
printmaking’s
naturally
dark
geared
surface which
conveys fur, feather and whiskers very well, and lends itself to darker imagery. In other words, have artists been influenced by the media in which they work and does the technique of etching have some influence on the subject matter that results?
PICTURE THE EMPATHIES
Another contemporary printmaker, Frank Boyden, from north western America,
has
depravity
taken
within
the
dark
humanity,
themes
and
of
produced
the a
grotesque,
suite
of
96
and small
drypoints two by three inches in size called the “Empathies”. Human and beast-like qualities are used to depict beauty and ugliness,
and
miniatures
contrast
show
natural
monstrous
faces
with
unnatural.
twisted
and
These
animalistic
small with
single eyes, gaping beaks, horns and haired faces. The richness of
the
drypoint
line
conveys
particularly well.
PICTURE DEVIL DOG ENSNARED
the
sensual
texture
of
hair
With reference to printmaking technique informing and influencing imagery, Karla Hackenmiller, professor of printmaking at Ohio University in the United States, agrees. She says that when she begins creating an image, she starts out by making marks which then trigger associations and development of the image in the subconscious . She explains,
“The etching needle lends itself to fine lines and the repetitive nature
of
extension...
the
drawing
the
also
beast
is
makes easily
hair
and
fur
elaborated
a
natural
within
the
printmaking process. “ (from a telephone conversation 28/ 08/09)
In
this
relief
“Devil
Dog
Ensnared”,
the
wildness
and
vitality of the animal is described aptly with the tautness of the carved line in the block. The repetitive lines of which she talks help convey a sense of primal vibrating energy. PICTURE LOT’S WIFE PAINTING
Hanselaar comments that the etching medium brings a new dimension to her imagery. This becomes clear when you look at images that were originally paintings,
and later reworked as
prints.
She
comments that the images are “embedded in the medium that is used, if you translate them (directly) they just become a copy of something.” (from a conversation with artist, 27/05/09)
In “Lot’s Wife” for example, areas of passive colour and the central
figure
have
been
replaced
by
much
more
descriptive
scribbled lines and tones. There are more props to help the narrative, and a tension to the postures of the players in the scene, that changes the dynamic of the narrative completely.
Hanselaar’s prints are made on intimately small etching plates, in contrast with the very large canvases that she usually uses. She says that these are worked on in tandem in the evenings at home. These plates are often reworked and re-etched 5-10 times in a
fluid,
gestural
frenzy.
She
is
less
precious
about
the
printmaking medium, for example rarely timing things in the acid, and applying stop out with a loose touch, confident that she will be able to scrape back and force out an image which she will be happy with at the end. Later some of the techniques gained from making the etchings are later used in her painted works.
PICTURE THERE ARE NO GODS IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN
In this regard, scenes of lightness become quickly etched into scenes with dramatic dark rich blacks. Bodies themselves develop a soft fuzziness from the fact the plate is often reworked but the
old
lines
and
tones
rarely
disappear
completely-
so
the
traces of part stories on the skin appear like haired scars or severed attachments. The monsters, birds and beasts develop a
richness of tone in their dark modelling and velvety shade from the etching and aquatint process.
In the process of researching this paper, I have been constantly entertained and on the edge of being overwhelmed by the wealth of ideas and imagery relating to the representation of animal in print. Looking at Marcelle Hanselaar’s prints has allowed me to reflect upon the rich symbolism and metaphor that the presence of an animal brings to an image, as well as appreciate the way in which she approaches her etching plates and other aspects of her broad
range
of
techniques.
As
an
artist
and
printmaker,
I
appreciate the primal language of the beast is a very powerful one, and hope to take the fruits of my research into my future artworks.
Bibliography
Hope B Werness, Encyclopedia of Animal Symbolism in Art, New York, Continuum, 2003
Helen
King,
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O128-
metamorphosis.html
Martin
Kemp,
The
Human
Animal
University of Chicago Press 2007
in
Western
Art
and
Science,
Clarissa Pinkola-Estes, Women
who run with
Wolves, New
Ballantine, 1995
Jane Ussher, Fantasies of Femininity, London, Penguin, 1997
York,