Anna Parsons
New World
I am a multimedia artist from Panama City, Florida, currently a senior in the BFA program at Florida State University. My work explores themes such as contemporary evolution, the nature-culture divide, the exploitation of nature, and anthropocentrism. These themes are explored visually, through human-animal hybrids and/or anthropomorphic animals, taking a post-humanist perspective. I am a visual storyteller, creating narratives and characters, working in an illustrative style to retain this storybook quality. New World is a mixed-media watercolor painting with elements of collage seamlessly incorporated into the piece. Anthropomorphized animals are seen living in an outdoor setting, where human elements are scattered in their lives and environment. The collage elements, collected from magazines, represent these whispers of human involvement, for example, a faucet acting as a waterfall, windows inside of trees, and more. My artworks focus on the ordinary and mundane, combining commonplace creatures with everyday tasks to create a scene that exudes feelings of familiarity and playfulness.
I'm interested in the concept of camouflage and exaggerate it by showing animals camouflaging as humans. In the wild, camouflage is integral to an animal's survival, and my work questions how they fit into today's world, and our relationship and use of them. Humans have dominated animals and separated themselves from them while at the same time celebrating and befriending them. I create alternative realities and utilize humor to speak on the absurd and contradictory relationship between humans and animals. The animals in New World in particular are familiar to us, and we see them in our everyday lives, but they are all still considered to be wild animals. New World is an exploration of the nature-culture divide and the domestication of animals. These animals are wild while also taking on human characteristics, signifying our broken perception of wild animal behavior. New World is a manifestation of that perception, creating an alternative world far from the truth.