AMAG Presents: Cara DeAngelis “The Deer is Broken: Roadkill in the Domestic Space”

Cara DeAngelis’ work will no doubt engage our curiosity and perhaps jar a few sensibilities, for the subject matter of “roadkill” is not pleasant. Most of us, no doubt, squeamishly steer around dead animals on the highway, and in those instances having caused such death, regret the loss of an innocent creature. 

Why then would DeAngelis choose to make “roadkill’  the focus of her work ? 

and . . . What is it about these paintings that strangely attracts us ?

More specifically, why are we captivated by the curious juxtaposition of an elegantly gowned woman with a dead fox in her lap ? (Woman with Roadkill III), or by a richly colored still life (Big Bird and Road Kill ) that places a doll, stuffed animals, a figurine, the Sesame Street icon and other childhood paraphernalia in the company of a dead rat and mouse ?

Is there some message behind these intriguing oddities ?

DeAngelis notes that,

“Living in CT did directly affect the work I produce now. Roadkill is a huge phenomenon across the United States and is extremely common in CT, where

deer are rampant and overpopulated, and there is the ever-expansion of roads

and highways that dislocate certain species continuously.”

“I became obsessed and fascinated with the death I would see on the side

of the roads. From the mysterious, detached legs of deer to the twitching

squirrel, I hated looking, but also felt that I had to. One day, after a funeral

– how appropriate –  I stopped and picked up my first roadkill.

When I started painting roadkill, I quickly realized many of these animals killed on the road were species that used to be ‘the kill’ in hunting sport. I began to see them as the modern kill, now that people don’t really hunt for their food. (At least not in CT!) Instead it’s done with cars by mistake, and the carcasses are never eaten or used for anything.

Another DeAngelis statement notes that the two central themes of her work are the Tragic and the Infantile.  The former has to do with a modern societal disconnect with nature, or as the artist puts it,  a  “…long-standing alienation between the domestic and the wild.”  The latter, DeAngelis suggests, has to do with nostalgia, but it may be, as well, a loss of innocence.

Cara DeAngelis’ exhibit runs from October 1 through October 28.  A reception for the artist is scheduled for Thursday, October 11, from 4:30 – 6:30 pm.  A gallery talk will be given at 5:30 that evening.