EXHIBITION: Superanimal: Painting with the animal

Superanimal: Painting with the animal is an exhibition of postgraduate work showcasing a series of oil paintings and photo documentation by Stephanie Reisch as part of her Master of Fine Arts degree program. Grounded in animal alchemy and the motility of the painted gesture, the works prompt a rethinking of the ways in which the animal has previously been represented in painting by exploring the animal in trace and essence. Fragments and remains of real animals, i.e. jaguar, rattlesnake and sandgroper, are broken down and suspended in the paint medium, imbedding genetic imprints of individual species as they traverse the canvas with the artist. In a mixture of discovery, disorientation, forming and un-forming, the paintings suspend and collapse the human and animal in spatial layers evoking the primal and untamed.