Helena Pass

109 Ways of Depicting a Horse

 

 

 

Photos by Helena Pass
Media: Artist's book, video interview, interactive drawing table with stencil drawing tools, ink drawings

During a long-term artistic research process, I explored the evolving relationship between humans and horses, which led me to experiment with ways of representing the horse. I gathered my reflections in a book of ink drawings that presents 109 ways to depict (and perceive) the horse. Though the drawings show horses, they speak equally about humans — how we see, treat, and assign roles to horses through history. I also translated these explorations into abstracted stencils for an interactive drawing table. These invite viewers to move beyond anatomical or traditional representation and see the horse as a shape, rhythm, or voice.

Posthumanist texts that I read during my artistic research encouraged a shift from human-centred thinking. Much of human progress has depended on other species, yet the credit remains ours. The project’s final phase — an interview with a horse — illustrates how, despite our best intentions, we inevitably project human thoughts and feelings onto animals.