DESIREE HOLMAN: TROGLODYTE
Nov 18 - Dec 17, 2005

Queens Nails Annex is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Oakland-based artist Desiree Holman. An installation-based work, Troglodyte, incorporates video, sculpture and large format photography. The term "troglodyte" describes a simpleton or brute who may live in a hole in the ground or in a cave. A troglodyte is emotionally reactive and potentially dangerous; s/he is without acute powers of reasoning. Pan troglodyte is also the scientific name of the chimpanzee.

Both fantastical and absurd, Holman has constructed multiple wearable chimpanzee-like sculptures. The inhabited sculptural forms and ensuing narratives are the subject matter for the photo and video work.

Weather in the spotlight of academic investigations or popular culture, the chimpanzee has often been the focus for human projection. By inhabiting the sculptural forms and pretending to chimpanzee, Holman's work investigates human emotion and behavior. Holman cites her influences in neuroscience, evolutionary theory, behavioral sciences, animism and popular culture.