Through the beginning of this month, Stolenspace in Londonhosted a new body of work from Sandra Chevrier (interviewed) entitled Les Cages; We Can’t Be Tamed. Continuing her series of paintings that examine the masks we wear because of social expectations, the Canadian-born artist once again applies her signature aesthetic of wrapping faces with comic book imagery to her latest pieces. Rounding out the show was a striking installation that crept from top of the wall to floor on the far end of the gallery.
Chevrier further explains – “A man can believe until his last breath that he is different from a Caged animal in a Zoo. But through all his life until his death; he will be living in a prison without walls and will still believe he is free when in fact, everyday he will be shackled, whipped, and exist in captivity. We are all slaves of something, of someone, of an idea.
The Cages series as been revolving around submission, oppression, unfreedom, confinement and imprisonment. Cages are Cages, whether they were build with steel or from the fabric of the mind. We cannot be free outside the Cage unless we are able to experience the freedom within it. The freedom is inside us. Freedom within a Cage. I have a dream. A dream that freedom is not just an idea or a word. Only; I am not sure what it is… Not yet.”
Discuss Sandra Chevrier here.
