Behavioural Enrichment : An Exhibition of Painting

Abstract

Behavioural Enrichment is a series of paintings of fictional zoo exhibits; the body of work as a whole creates a silent zoo. The paintings merge imagery and draw comparisons between the stage-like sets of mid-century interior design photographs and Western zoos exhibits. The paintings present curious new worlds that comment upon the artificiality that is in both zoos and the ideal home. The contained curious new worlds that comment upon the artificiality that is in both zoos and the painted environments are complete with props of still-lifes, behavioural enrichment devices from zoos, and animal actors. These strange worlds of artifice are constructed with images within images: odd compositions and disintegrating spaces that balance between an illusion of depth and an abstract flatness. The work provides a space for the imagination to contemplate many possible metaphors.