Rush Drayton: 'Animal Selves' – Exhibition + Film Premiere

Animal Selves is a solo exhibition by Sydney-based artist Rush Drayton. The show features a hyperrealistic silicone sculpture, a short film documenting its creation over five months, and four framed in-situ prints of the work interacting with the natural world.

Animal Selves, a porcine girl in a moment of self-reflection, invites viewers to reconsider their relationship with nature. Pigs are among the most intelligent domesticated animals, outperforming three-year-old children and dogs in cognitive ability tests. They can empathise with human emotions and express their own through twenty distinct sounds. The girl’s mask symbolises societal expectations that, as we mature, we distance ourselves from our instinctual, unfiltered connections with nature. The work challenges us to embrace our shared origins and to recognise animals as sentient beings. 

Intrigued by the concept of detachment from our animal selves, Drayton explores animals' umwelt – their perception of reality through senses incomprehensible to humans – and how this may find representation in the human form.

Photographing his sculpture in real-world settings, Drayton crafts a narrative where the porcine girl meets a human girl and her hound in a wooded bushland. Together, they explore and learn about themselves and each other, prompting viewers to question their differences from animals. 

While working as a software engineer, Drayton studied the uncanny valley theory, which examines how human-like objects or graphics can provoke emotional responses and challenge viewers' perceptions of reality. Now, he applies this theory to his art. Silicone is the closest proxy for human skin, and by employing techniques of airbrushing, pigmenting, and punching individual hairs, Drayton creates works that look and feel startlingly real.

Animal Selves marks Drayton’s first solo exhibition, documenting a world where his sculptures narrate beyond the gallery walls.

• Opening reception: Friday, 21 June 2024 from 6pm - 9pm

• Exhibition dates: Open daily 9am - 5pm, 22 - 25 June 2024 ⁠

Email hello@rushdrayton.com to request a catalogue. ⁠

Image: Rush Drayton, 2024, Eco Solvent Pigment Print on Cotton Rag Art Paper with non-reflective glass, 71 x 118cm