KATE CLARK: Mysterious Presence

Clark uses the centuries-old technique of taxidermy to sculpt human-like facial features with wild animal hides. Her hybridized sculptures are at once familiar yet strange, insinuating primal similarities between humans and animals and evoking questions about identity and societal values. Her sculptures' strong presence also evokes a sort of absence, rendering the figures aloof and mysterious. Often working with live models and using a polymer clay, Clark creates realistic faces for her figures and then applies sections of shaved hide to match the animal's skin to the shape of the human face thus facilitating the inter-species transformation.