After portraying common farm animals and especially cattle, it is only natural to me to consider the animals’ fate in given contemporary cultures. Slaughter, disassembly and processing to portioned meat products are part of a cycle. Thoughts about animal welfare, kinds and choices of nutrition and creating an awareness of hidden and repressed realities are inevitably connected to this topic. However, the exhibited paintings are neither accusation to the viewers, nor demands for a vegetarian way of life, but rather a demure capturing of pure natural realities of our world.
The sensation to the viewer is one of ambivalence: Besides the hidden realities and their depiction, the appealing quality of the topic is the multitude in color and form, which is reflected in the slaughter paintings, on one hand. On the other hand, the large scale paintings represent a provocation in themselves.
At the moment the artist is working on a series of cute pet dogs and cats. Over time, dogs and cats have become loyal partners for people in general. However, in this culture here the canine mammals do not seldom represent a substitute for human social contacts, and are therefore anthropomorphised. This aspect in combination with quite human looking facial expressions and characteristic traits make the works so intriguing.
Berlin-based artist Sandra Ober was born in 1984 in Mainz. She studied art in Frankfurt/Main.
