Gabbi Culham-Putnoki

Listen When They Come

This work explores human connection with the natural world, and our reluctance to see ourselves as animals just as much a part of the ecosystem as any other creature.

“My work is an exploration of the human will and it's rejection ofNature's intrinsic balance. The natural elements guide and nurture myfigures in different ways. Firstly when the body is placed nude in nature,this is an idealization. Her shameless nudity shows us a glimpse of whathas been lost, a world where conscious purpose does not disrupt thesystem this earth has crafted for billions of years. Allegorically she is Eveand we are castaways from the garden. When we scrutinize her shebecomes the victim of human abstraction, something she knows nothingof. If only we invited the ideals of the preconscious mind into our liveswe could understand herIn my newer works I have incorporated birds as physical messengers, ushering humanity into a plane of greater understanding. Birds are a symbol of wisdom in many cultures, the dove itself is seen to be a physical manifestation of the holy spirit. When messages from nature appear we must listen. There is wisdom in the natural world far deeper than any human being could imagine.”