Auriea Harvey
Fauna
Fauna is a figurative sculpture by Auriea Harvey that is characteristic of the artist’s practice—both serious and somewhat whimsical. Making use of old and new technologies, the work is a self-portrait. The sculpture features a soft and gentle human face made of 3D printed composite, sprouting from a clutter of clay and other materials. With empty eye sockets and the ears of a lamb, the sculpture has a mythical sensibility.
This diminutive work is part of Harvey’s ongoing series of sculptures that employ 3D scanning, sculpting, and printing techniques, coupled with hybrid combinations of natural and artificial materials, including found objects. The artist’s intention with this series is not to contrast, but to harmonize artificial and natural forms. The characters depicted in the series are modified and bestial self-portraits. The artist embodies characters who express aspects of her own nature; characters who live inside the digital worlds she creates; and mythologies she alters. In this way, digital and physical worlds meet alongside Harvey’s material narrative.
Committed to technique and the mastery of tools, for decades Auriea Harvey’s practice has included drawing, sculpting, and software coding. At once charming and challenging, Harvey’s broad interests in history, myth, and aesthetics are what define and drive her art. Since the 1980’s Harvey has maintained a drawing practice, then made a leap to Internet art in the late eighties by way of joining Hell.com, alongside a small group of international artists. Working outside of the commercial art world, with her new partner, Harvey moved on to making video games, work in extended reality, and more recently, NFTs.