Jessie Mooy has an empathetic relationship with all animals. Through her art, she wants to bring awareness to those who are abused, exploited, and on the brink of extinction. She also wants to keep the conversation about our climate emergency alive.
Jessie’s sculptural figures depict strong archetypical females with animals. The animals and the women have a close bond, which respects them as sentient beings. She refers to the female artforms as Goddesses, Earthmothers and Madonnas of Justice, whose essential role is protecting, renewing, and nurturing.
Jessie explains, ”My sculptures revere all beasts and celebrate the archetype of the earthmother or female who guards them and tries to come to their rescue. Today, however, she herself needs care, so everything is very fragile and delicate with these mothers made from the earth itself.”
The decision to produce her sculptures in clay is no coincidence, it is a powerful material that supports her values of conservation. Ceramics require all the elements, earth, wind, fire and water, to come to being. She is passionate about safeguarding our planet and uses the dramatic Japanese firing technique of Raku, where low-fired ceramics are placed with combustible materials when very hot. The method starves the piece of oxygen, often creating metallic glaze finishes and cracks. For Jessie, the cracks in her works are symbolic and illustrate how precarious life can be.
Because of her long career creating, she witnesses recurring themes, motifs, and symbols surfacing in her pieces. These further demonstrate how these critical climate issues need to be addressed. They urge us to question what is righteous and morally correct and to reflect on themes like humanity, love, compassion, duty, and justice towards all life forms.
Her work also evokes author Philip Pullman’s trilogy of fantasy novels, which follow two children as they come of age. Pullman’s dæmons are animal forms representing an individual’s inner self, almost soul. The idea is that each person is born with an animal spirit that can transform into different animals from childhood to adolescence when it settles into its final form. His inspiration for the dæmon came from paintings showing animals as companions, particularly Leonardo da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine.
Although her art contains strong messages, it also includes folk law, fairy tales, and theatre elements that celebrate our profound relationship with nature and creatures.
Kellie Miller is an artist, curator, critic and gallery owner.
www.kelliemillerarts.com
