Of a simple material, Kendra Haste Brings our face-to-face with striking sculptures from wild animals. Known for her use of galvanized thread to make life -size portraits of everything, from quiet elephants to warn deer to a family of Zwijnen, the British artist is fascinated by what she describes as the “essence and character” of every being.
The Solo exhibition of the artist, Big Bad Wolf by the Iron Art Casting Museum BüdelsdorfIs Haste’s first in Germany and continues with its wild exploration of the wild through eleven recent works that bridge the world of animals and ours. Haste says: “I try to catch the living, breathing model in a static 3D form and to convey his emotional essence without sliding into sentimentality or anthropomorphism.”
If you have visited the Tower of London in the past fifteen years, you may also have been inspired by the Royal Menagerie inspired by the first zoo in the city. The building housed a collection of animals between 1200 and 1835, many of which were gifted to kings and queens.
The life -sized animals of Haste are installed near where they were held and nods to real residents, such as an elephant sent by the king of France in 1255 and which was probably a polar bear that was sent from Norway around the same time. The works were initially planned for a 10-year exhibition, but now permanent on display In the beloved historical attraction.
In Big Bad Wolf, Haste’s first Solo Museum Exhibition, she dives into conservation, sustainability and the controversial concept of regrettative. Those animals that wander through the museum, including wolves, a deer, a Hind, a white-tailed eagle, Lynx and wild boar, are all native in northern Germany. While some are threatened, others bounce back, and are almost applied in a regional but universal understanding of our delicate relationship with nature and how our actions influence this.
“This is about how we see the natural world – how we tried to shape it, and what it could mean to have it return,” says Haste. “Wire, such as cast iron, has a voltage between strength and vulnerability. That balance runs through each piece in this exhibition.”
Big Bad Wolf will continue until November 2 in Büdelsdorf. See more of Haste’s work Instagram.
