Sunday, November 8, 2009

"Deer in Headlights" November 14 to December 11 at Frida- Georgetown

One blue night in 2003, half way between the razor and the hairy beast (Buffalo and Gillette, WY) on my way back East on the I -90, I killed a young buck with the front end of my Toyota while at 60 miles per hour. My truck was totaled and I was stuck in Buffalo for six days. Lucky for me, I lead a charmed life and left that town with a new truck and an epic true story about riding an old Paint on the range in the purple dusk circled by a hundred bounding pronghorn antelope.


Image detail: "Deer in Headlights (be more careful)" 2009, acrylic and mixed media on linen. 48 x 36 x 1.5"


I've been told that the deer is my spirit animal. I'm not really sure what means. Am I: Easy prey? Easily startled? Naturally delicious? Bad under pressure? Better off hiding in a thicket? This summer I met a tiny fawn in Sri Lanka. The fawns there never loose their spots.


People like to talk about spots when referring to the stubborn "leopardness" of leopards. We see spots all the time while we are looking too hard for things that may or may not be there (hopeful), and when we are not seeing things that are right there in front of us (oblivious). Other times, spots are just spots: what happens when moisture dries on a glossy surface leaving mineral traces and camouflage for creatures which may or may not be going extinct.



Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, July 2009, Does drinking from roadside puddles (ccuehara 2009)


Trincomalee, Sri Lanka- July 2009, Two bucks resting in the shade (ccuehara 2009)