Four

Sense of Self

BY Deborah Williams, September 10, 2012

I did not consciously set out to make images of dogs. It just seemed to evolve organically. Not long after leaving art school, I rented a studio. I decided to get a dog for the security and company. Ruby always came with me to the studio, she was a constant companion. I drew Ruby in those moments when I felt at a complete loss or creatively uninspired. This seemed to happen often. At the time, Ruby became something of a substitute for a life drawing class. The more I drew her, the stronger my drawing became.

During this period, I travelled to Thailand. I began to observe the environment around me. I was particularly struck by the dogs. There were so many of them and they did not seem to be in a healthy condition. The dogs would appear to attach themselves to the tourists, perhaps in the hope of securing regular food and some affection. In retrospect, however, it may not have been a case of attaching themselves to the people but rather laying claim to their turf. This was their space.

A most significant issue for me at the time was my observation of the coexistence of dogs with people in Thailand – so very different to the ‘pet’ situation in Western society. I started volunteering for the Bali Street Dog Foundation (there are over one million street dogs in Bali), which purpose is to medicate, clean, vaccinate and sterilise street dogs to prevent them proliferating and infecting other dogs and human beings. At this time, I was looking at the dog as a potent marker for the fragility of the world we live in. And they represented the qualities we advocate but cannot sustain – unquestioning love, inner peace, inexhaustible spirit. They educated, intrigued and amused me.

Having begun to make images of dogs almost by accident, and without any serious analysis, I used the image of the dog as a metaphor, based on an interest in, and reflection upon, the human condition. This early work largely centred on images in the context of Anglo-centric human interaction, relationships and social issues, where Western culture tends to reflect a visualist, aesthetic extension of personal image.

Later, my work became intentionally anthropomorphic. A series of works that dealt with the image of the dog, exploiting the concept of anthropomorphic irony. Then, I began to look at dogs outside of my own culture, in Asia and within Indigenous communities. I observed dogs outside of my own experience of the dog as a pet. I saw the dog co-exist in an environment with humans. I began to see the dog as dog devoid of and to a degree, outside of human culture.

For Sense of Self, when I look at dogs in and around me, I question whether dogs are seen for what they are, as separate beings. I observe that while we do not objectify our dogs per se our feelings are frequently filtered through human perspectives; these dogs are therefore, anthropomorphised brought unwittingly into our worlds. I strive to challenge the anthropomorphising of dogs even though I acknowledge that my work, in common with historical and contemporary contexts of the representation of dogs, is none the less filtered through my own perspectives and brought into our world. For a dog, it must surely be a complex relationship, enduring and interdependent, loving and loyal, yet simply ‘other’. It is the ‘other’ that I endeavour to depict.

Although I inevitably bring to my work my own awareness and subjective experience, it is the voice of the dog I now seek to portray in my work.

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All etchings and engravings by Deborah Williams
Sense of self  shows at the Australian Galleries until 16 September 2012
deborahwilliams.com.au

Tags Art, Australian Galleries, Black&White, Collection, Deborah Williams, Engraving, Etching, Exhibition, Illustration, Personal, Sense of Self, Society