Gordian Knot, 2021, Troy Emery
Cotton rope, polyurethane, adhesive, screws, pins, 31 x 88 x 60 cm
Provenance: Martin Browne Gallery, Sydney NSW
Based in Melbourne, artist Troy Emery is best known for his practice of sculpting animal forms using textiles - a version of ‘fake taxidermy’. Working in his Brunswick studio, his work also encompasses painting, drawing and embroidery (1).
Using materials such as pompoms, tassels, tinsel, and yarn in pieces that intentionally confuse traditional sculpture with handicrafts, Emery’s life-like (and very often life-size) animal figures include traditional domesticated pets, but also those animals considered wild and seldom seen in the home environment - sloths, lions and foxes. Presented in bright colours, the animals are posed seemingly ready to come to life and move. Passionate about the delineation between ‘fine arts’ and craft, Emery explores motives of domestication, ecological destruction and the interaction between humans and animals (2).
‘The core structure of the work is an anatomically correct to scale animal model. So, the sculptures are, underneath, distinct animals like lions, foxes, and big cats. Through the process of building the colourful textile pelt, that very particular animal disappears and transforms into something less recognisable but still recognisably animal-like. The works become new hybrid animals with a new shape and coat.
If you look at taxidermy, there is some discomfort there if you ponder that it’s an actual deceased animal. In my work, there is no real animal component because I have swapped out the fur and leather pelt for the highly artificial colourful polyester tassels. I think the discomfort and awkwardness of what you feel with taxidermy is able to translate across to the garish materials over the form (3).’