Beautiful Beasts by Wuon Gean Ho

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

print

“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,