Aug
30
“Shadbolt’s monsters, beasts and bugs often crawl across a blasted landscape, survivors of some awful apocalypse. They are creatures of nightmares and the unconscious. They thrive on repression and destruction. But some of them are symbols of life’s renewal, like the butterfly, or of the wisdom of living in harmony with nature, like the owl. Above all, they are to be encountered as forces within ourselves. Neither good nor bad, the inner beasts are irrational and demand respect. Whether they appear as devouring monsters or wise and gentle birds and butterflies depends on us and how we treat nature in our world and in our dreams.”
Scott Watson, Guest Curator, Jack Shadbolt: Bugs, Birds & Beasts, Artists for Kids Gallery
