Relativity – Trent Hoover

Relativity – Trent Hoover

Exhibition Opening November 12, 7pm – 9pm  

As an artist and biologist, I am fascinated by the animals and plants that inhabit the world. In art, images of animals and plants are widely used as examples of natural beauty and inspiring metaphor, yet our relationship with the natural world is often an antagonistic one, especially when viewed from the perspective of those animals and plants we so closely associate with.

In my work, I pair realistic depictions of animal and human figures cast in bronze (arguably one of the most durable of all media) with ephemeral and short-lived natural materials (such as wood, dried grass, or natural fiber) to create evocative images that suggest underlying narratives. In my work, the use of cast bronze paired with other materials also allows me to explore themes of permanence and ephemerality.

The animals I depict in my work are often those we are very familiar with – house sparrows, blackbirds, and honey bees. This sense of familiarity can allow us to ask an important question; namely, how are the stories we tell using animals different from the stories they tell each other?

Though I have a long-established art practice spanning decades, I have little formal training in fine art. My art practice has been an intensely personal endeavor in which I have explored themes of mythology (both classical and personal) and the intersection between humanity and the natural world. I consider myself to be a sculptor, working primarily in cast bronze and subtractive wood sculpting.

I have worked to develop my technical skills in several disciplines, including bronze casting (lost-wax method), wood sculpture (both subtractive and constrictive approaches), line drawing, and block printing. My experience in bronze casting is relatively extensive, as I have enjoyed both formal and informal instruction in these methods from a number of artists working in bronze (primarily at the University of Lethbridge Fine Arts Department).

My extensive education in biology (I hold a PhD in Freshwater Biology) has provided me with broad insight into wild animals and plants, as well as the natural world they inhabit. Interactions between humans and other animals – both positive and destructive – are an important source of inspiration for my art.

Date:November 12th, 2022  -  January 14th, 2023

Location:Casa - Project Space

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