Contemporary animal sculptor Kendra Haste is able to create life out of rolls of galvanized wire. Making use of the material to form contoured pieces that contrast solidity with empty space, Haste breathes a sense of movement into her creature creations. She has built a complete menagerie of animals, each anatomically correct and powerfully made, as she effortlessly transforms the textured wire into the muscled flanks of a bear and the scraggly mane of a laughing hyena.
Her newest collection of animated sculptures feature a stag, two baboons, a mandrill, and a portly warthog to round out the group. Each creature in the collection showcases Haste’s characteristic ability to bestow a sense of realism and spirit upon her work. The warthog stares up reproachfully from the ground, while the mandrill maintains a haughty glare from his place on a podium above the other animals. Her pieces are alive, yet never give off a comic or anthropomorphic feeling. Instead, Haste creates animal figures that depict the power and true personality of the animals after which they are modelled.
A selection of Haste’s newest sculptures are currently part of an exhibition titled Let’s Dance! Animals (Art & Design). The show features 23 artists from around the world that examine the relationship between humans, animals, and nature. Visitors are welcome to view these works at the Chimei Museum in Tainan, Taiwan, which will be on display until the end of August.
