Man In The Forest by Iris Polos. All Rights Reserved.

As a child I knew I was an animal - I think all of us know that when we’re children. Then we get indoctrinated by science and religion to think otherwise, and we become separated from the rest of nature. We’re told that only humans have emotional lives and intelligence. We’re told that only humans enter heaven.

This work is about reclaiming what I knew as a child. It is about what I see with animal eyes.

The drawings are about the genes we share with the other primates and about the hands that, except for the opposable thumbs that are forever tempting us to pull rank, so clearly demonstrate we’re kin of the same tribe.

The sculptures began with one piece of paper and were built up with layer upon layer each one cut in an intricate, spiraling, random pattern. So much is now hidden under the surface, but that’s how life is made: from atom to visible surface. The process went on for eight months, twelve months, maybe more.