Companions

Sand and satin, skin and hair, eyes and limbs – Mary-Audrey Ramirez's organic-looking creatures conjure up feelings of familiarity and alienation in equal measure. Are they prehistoric creatures or are they looking back at us from a speculative future? Are they in an embryonic state or are they fully grown organisms? Do they belong to some unknown species of animal – or are they possibly just Pokémons after all? There is something utopian about Ramirez's creatures. Even the insectoid beings appear unobtrusively cute and seem to bear the promise of a peaceful existence. It is probably no coincidence that Ramirez has named her creatures ‘critters’, a term readers may be familiar with from Donna Haraway. Haraway uses ‘critters’ to describe ‘all kinds of creatures’ – including insects and humans. The term signifies an attempt to decentralise anthropocentric thinking and to take all forms of life seriously. It challenges us to not just consider animals as objects of human exploitation, but as subjects with their own rights, perspectives and meanings, and with whom we humans will always have a reciprocal, kinship relationship. For this approach, Ramirez has found a powerful visual language. Her ‘critters’ invite us, by means of their design and materials, to reflect on both their otherness and their connection to us. What kind of bodies are they? How do they move? How do they feel? What do they think about? What do they strive for? Even the exhibition title ‘Companions’ refers to one of Haraway's central theoretical concepts. It describes the profound and multi-layered relationship, the co-evolution between humans and other living beings. Ramirez builds on this by creating characters whose status remains unclear. Her creatures are not fictional characters that we consume in literature and whose individuality we enjoy, but they are also not mere social stereotypes or collective projections of desires and fears. After all, they are not avatars of ourselves. It is precisely because of their elusive nature that we begin to reflect on and appreciate our relationships with other beings who are strangers to us - beings who, like us, are also ‘critters’. The names of some of their creatures Porci, Vampturtle and Spiky - are curious in the best sense of the word. They appear as inquisitive, approachable characters whose oddity arouses our interest and appeals to our sociability. Ramirez creates a dense image of a world with her figurative representations in pictures, objects and games, It is a world devoid of time and space where the great dichotomies of human thought no longer play a role. A post-anthropocentric world that is not organised hierarchically. A world in which we cannot orientate ourselves, which defies our understanding in a refreshing way and makes us forget, at least for a few moments, who we are, where we come from and that we believe we are of particular importance.