“Un-Herd”, An Atmospheric Experience by Artist Emmo Maddox
Contact: Hannah Thompson | 405-574-1362
Hybrid media artist Emmo Maddox will display her new collection of work in the Nesbitt Gallery on November 1st. The exhibition, titled “Un-Herd”, is a visceral and highly interactive show that uses animal skulls and Maddox’s signature fabrication technique to provoke curiosity and unease. The exhibition aims to spark conversations about human choice, empathy, and the roles people take on within our society.
The exhibition, which begins at 3 p.m., is designed to be fully explorable and touch friendly. Flashlights will be available at the front of the gallery to allow the patrons to explore the works on a more immersive level at their own leisure.
“The entire show is meant to be a very atmospheric experience,” Maddox said. “I really want to invoke curiosity. I believe the audience is inherently smart and hope that they view this as sort of a puzzle with a few hints of ‘dark wonder.’”
The motivation for the work stems from Maddox’s feeling of helplessness regarding the current global landscape. Maddox sought to express empathy for those facing hardships by exploring the traditional, fixed roles of animals in nature and contrasting with the conscious choices available to human beings.
“I wanted to play with the traditional roles of prey and predatorial animals, because everyone can understand those sorts of natural roles; like a wolf versus a deer, or a lion versus an antelope.” Maddox explained. “These are things they can’t help; they are what they are. But unlike them, we as human beings have the ability to choose what role we play. We can choose to be the person that is the predator and takes advantage of other people, or we can choose to be the person that decides to make a difference. I think it’s so easy to fall into a role that you feel like you’ve been born into, and not bother to step outside of it and wonder ‘why do I do these things?’ Why do I feel these things?’”
“As human beings, we have a unique ability to be able to consider our actions. A lion can’t consider why he’s eating an antelope – it’s because he’s hungry and that’s what he was taught to do. Human beings don’t have to survive through that sort of violence. We can take a moment. We can step back and really see what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. Is what we’re doing really for the best? Are our actions for the good of other human beings that are just trying to make it through the day?”
Maddox expresses a fondness for all of her works, but for this particular body of work, she was surprised to find herself particularly drawn to a steer skull – a work that resonated with a deeper, personal symbolism.
The artist shared an anecdote from her father, who taught her that the musk ox is a fiercely family-oriented animal. When threatened, adult oxen form an impenetrable circle to protect the young and vulnerable.
“This has inspired a very ‘family first’ attitude in me,” Maddox said. “Family, to me, is not just blood. It’s the family you make as well. So I really believe in the symbolism that the steer also represents -
Just because you live in a herd, doesn’t mean you’re helpless.”
Maddox credits her husband, artist Joseph Maddox, as a major inspiration to her own pieces for his work ethic and emotional investment in his art. “His work ethic is unparalleled. His work is amazing and I think he puts a lot of thought and emotion into his pieces.” Maddox states. “The amount of thought and detail he puts into his pieces makes me want to do better as an artist. Sometimes they’re very fun, goofy pieces, but then other times he creates these moving pieces that touch on his background and his family. He’s been a major inspiration for this entire show, and he’s been my biggest source of motivation to have kept working on it.”
About the Nesbitt Gallery:
The Nesbitt Art Gallery on the campus of the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma was established in June 1997 as the USAO Art Gallery and rechristened in May 2012 to honor the family of Charles and Margôt Nesbitt. The Nesbitt Gallery has the particular mission to promote the visual arts of the Central Oklahoma Region with a special concern for the expressions of the diverse cultures and the role that educators have played in forming those expressions. While its permanent collection is weighted to support this mission, it also contains other works of art both of historic and contemporary significance.