Foolsgold Sanctuary NYC Submission

Hello My Loves,

I promised you I would be back on my blog soon and here I am only a few days later yay!! I wanted to share with you my submission for the upcoming Foolsgold Sanctuary NYC show being held next Tuesday Dec 13th from 6-9 at Noe Space in Soho. Foolsgold Arts curates exhibitions to raise funds for various charitable organizations centered around helping the environment and its inhabitants. This particular show is being held to benefit the Catskills Animal Sanctuary in Saugerties, NY.

I was so compelled reading the artist brief for the show, organized by my beautiful mentor and friend Shanan Campanaro, I simply had to contribute. We were asked to create a work inspired by the following quote by John Berger:

Man has always had a complex relationship with animals. They have been at once sacrificed, worshipped, hunted, bred, used as raw materials, metaphors and companions.

I was immediately struck by the idea of complexity; humans and animals can at one time be companions, resources, predators and so on. I started searching for an animal that I wanted to paint and fell in love with the baby goat. I then started researching which cultures worshipped them, religious ceremonies surrounding them, and sure enough I landed on India's Bakra Eid. Literally translating from Arabic as "the feast of sacrifice", the festival for me was riddled with complexity. In equal parts, it honors the lives of animals and ends them.

My intention in this post is not to point fingers or offer any sort of opinion on a religious tradition that I've had no personal experience with. I'm more trying to outline my thought process, how I came to draw upon this sacrificial celebration as inspiration for my work of art. I channeled not only the colors of India into my painting but also the traditional headpiece adorned by animals on this day. I wanted my background to be reflective of the complexity and contradictions brought on by the history of our relationship with animals.

Anyways, for now wish me luck that my piece gets included in the show and perhaps take some time to think about the relationships you've had with some furry friends throughout the years.

Much love,

Meag xx