Carlee Fernández
Latina-American artist
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Biography
Art
Bear Studies (2004)
Bear Study (2004)
Fernández believes all animals, including humans, hold great power and elegance.[5] In this respect, her taxidermy efforts are meant as homages to the animals.[5] In many of her works, she honors the bear as an emblem of self-empowerment and unbridled masculinity.[7] For Bear Study (2004),[8] she fully suits up inside of a taxidermied bear.[5]
Bear Hair Study (2004)
In this piece, Fernández takes a self-portrait wearing a “mustache” achieved by placing tufts of bear fur into her nostrils.[9] Bear Hair Study (2004) was collected by the National Portrait Gallery and featured in their traveling exhibition, Portraiture Now: Staging the Self.[7][9]
Domestic Odyssey (2004)
Her series entitled Friends is a body of taxidermy works from which the San Jose Museum of Art selected for their exhibit.[4] She was featured in Domestic Odyssey (2004) under one of its six subdivisions, Desperately Seeking Something [4]. The show took place from March 6 to July 3.[4] Fernández shapes animals into everyday objects such as furniture and utility objects. Her sculpture Lola Isern (2001) melds a goat with a shopping basket.[4] According to the exhibition catalogue, this practice visualizes the totality of consumerism over nature.[4] Lola Isern is also used for the front cover of the catalogue.[4]
Man (2006)
Self Portrait: Portrait of my Father as Manuel Fernández (2006)
Fernández's art explores masculinity through works wherein she casts herself as male subjects.[5][9][10] In her series Man (2006), she embodies masculine figures in various modes.[11] Self Portrait: Portrait of my Father, Manuel Fernández [1] is currently in the possession of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) which has included her works in several exhibitions.[1][12][13] This piece was featured in Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement.[1][2][14] Pictured are two gelatin silver prints of a photo of her father and a self-portrait as her father.[1] Fernández describes her strive for a replica, having to paint the stripes onto her shirt.[7][15] She leaves out his mustache to show the critical role of facial hair in machismo symbology.[1][15] She sought out her father in a time of irresolution, wanting to manifest his fortitude.[5][7]
Self Portrait as Franz West (2006)
In Self Portrait as Franz West (2006), Fernández takes on the face of the sculptor whom, like her father, she considers a compelling entity.[9][3][2] This work was also featured in LACMA’s Phantom Sightings exhibit.[2][14]