CLAUDE JONES / BROKEN

This November, Artereal Gallery will present a new exhibition by Claude Jones. Entitled Broken, the exhibition showcases the artist’s widening oeuvre, working in ceramics in addition to her acclaimed prints, continuing her preoccupation with animal rights and the role human intervention plays in animal biology. 

“My practice is motivated by a strong conviction in the need to re-assess our relationship with other animals – to consider their sentience and to approach more ethical ways of co-existing with them,” said Jones. 

Despite the challenging and often distressing themes that inform her work, at first glance they appear innocent, playful and reminiscent of storybook illustrations. The delicacy of drawing, fragility of the ceramic material, use of soft colour and fairytale-like guise of the work acts as a potent yet grim reminder of the impact of man’s hypocrisy. 

“Our human-centric perspective of the animal world positions rabbits, for example, as both cuddly companion animals but also as meat and fur “products”. We support an industry that raises millions of pets that are accepted members of families yet trap, cage, torture and kill billions of animals annually for food. My work seeks to expose such obvious contradictions in the face of widespread, culturally ingrained acceptance of this division” she said. 

New Zealand born Jones has traveled widely, studying, teaching and exhibiting around Australia and abroad. Her works are represented in numerous public and private collections including Artbank, The Art Gallery of New South Wales and The Rhode Island School of Design Museum in the U.S.A. 

Broken will be on show at Artereal for the month of November, beginning Wednesday 5 and running until Saturday 29 November 2014. 

The above video shares a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this latest body of work. Special thanks to Naomi Doras for filming and producing this video.