Bond of animals, man

The human and animal bond is complicated, and lovely, and the subject of a current show at the Spokane Art School, which honors this bond through exploration. The 16 exhibit pieces display the personal bond between the artists and animals. In some cases the animals honored are the artists’ pets and in others, the animal studied is one being mistreated.

“It’s tough to get at,” said artist Tom Dukich, co-curator of the show. “We have this perfect idea of what we think animals are – but they are really just themselves.”

Artists worked to maintain the animals’ separate identity from man, and they were cautious not to create caricatures of their subjects.

“Take ‘Squirrel Death Masks,’” he said, moving close to an artful handmade display cabinet. “Paul’s (Stout) point is that we want to recast nature. He got these masks from a taxidermy catalog. He made the vitrine to use to display the masks because these cabinets were once used to for anatomical displays.”

From an interactive piece about a “lost dog” to wearable bird art, there is no shortage of individuality in the human-animal bonds being discovered in art. The majority of the art was created specifically for the exhibit. Every artist involved in the show has personal relationships with animals. Two run an animal rescue organization, one has pet skunks living under his studio, several have rescued animals from shelters, and most have pets.

The relationship humans have with animals is obvious, in part, by the nearly $30 billion spent each year on pets, states the show description. “The loss or squandering of this bond is one of the things that makes the plight of abused animals so gut wrenching.”

People relate to animals in many different ways.

“We wanted the show to be about animals, not as symbols or surrogates for human emotions,” said Dukich. “For example, I’ve known hunters that have a certain respect for the animals they hunt. They admire and honor them.”

And take the story of the buffalo, said Dukich, “The buffalo myth is that the king buffalo comes to an Indian tribe and asks to marry their fairest maiden. Her hand was given in marriage but a deal was struck – the buffalo must promise to provide food and shelter for the tribe’s future.”

Dukich added, “If you believe that consciousness evolved, then you probably don’t believe that it went from nothing to something in one big step. You may believe that animals contain various levels of this.”

Kit Jagoda, co-curator, believes the show is a way to make people think about how society treats its animals. Her piece for the show, “Betrayed and Tortured,” a mixed media on paper, presents a trapped fox with bold colors and lines.

“Think of all the cruel things we do to our animals,” she said. “Think of the fur industry and all the experimentation on animals. I really wanted to express that for this show.”

Jagoda’s husband, artist Pete Jagoda, brings the show’s audience his experience of loss. “In Memory of Heidi” incorporates part of his dead horse’s tale hair.

“Heidi was gentle, really just a big pet,” he said. “She passed away last year. I found this quote to use in this piece. ‘The history of mankind was carried on the back of a horse.’”

Karen Lohrke Kaiser also honored lost animal companions in her beautifully balanced oil on canvas “Play Dead.” Here she remembers two previous family dogs – Spike and Phoebe.

“I was thinking of animal talk and how they ‘play dead,’” she said. “As human beings we just don’t have that reflex. Think of how long an animal can be perfectly still out of self-defense. There have been times when I should have done that – been so still to protect myself. I’m sure there have been times like that for all of us.”

Dukich’s “Lost Lucky” inkjet print is, in part, found art. It resembles a newspaper ad for a lost dog and it promises a “reward.”

“I really like working with text stuff,” he said. “I found part of this quote on the internet and started playing with it.”

Dukich points out the irony. “Many people get lost in the world, but there’s no reward for finding them. There’s usually no reward for finding lost people.”