Ancestral Excavations

In Ancestral Excavations, Eve Whitaker depicts larger-than-life human figures that initially appear to focus on the subject of death. However, closer study reveals that the artist intends to communicate qualities and conditions not only of the figures’ deaths, but of their lives as well. Instead of communicating through the spoken language of the living, each human figure represented in its burial shroud visually relates a personal and individual narrative though physical remains and mementos. Eve Whitaker’s interpretation of death as reflected in Ancestral Excavations is derived from many art historical traditions, including ancient Egyptian burial art, Medieval and Renaissance effigies and the images and burial customs of Mexico and South America. Examples include Egyptian mummification wrappings, Western sculptural relief figures, and Hispanic Catholic tributes such as altars containing flowers and photographs. Whitaker memorializes her figures by hanging them on a wall. Rather than repel the viewer with a grim or morbid picture of death, the Excavations enchant and mystify. Whitaker compels the viewer to contemplate the enigmas of the images. Who are these people? When and how did they die? Is there life for these people after death? What rituals prepared them for burial in this way?


Catalog excerpt from the University of Minnesota at Morris

Ancestral Excavations
Paintings/Collages by Eve Whitaker
by Megan Joyce & Rosemary Kimball

Joyce Petter Gallery - http://www.joycepettergallery.com

Artist website - http://color.darklight.org/whitaker