Fin Simonetti (b. 1986, Vancouver) interrogates cultural materials through precise carving techniques, focusing on animal motifs that exist in semiotic over-saturation. In her chrome bunny locks, forms collapse distinctions between...
Fin Simonetti (b. 1986, Vancouver) interrogates cultural materials through precise carving techniques, focusing on animal motifs that exist in semiotic over-saturation. In her chrome bunny locks, forms collapse distinctions between vulnerability and threat, merging anthropomorphic childhood symbols (Disney’s Fantasia, plush toys) with consumptive displays (Peking duck, rotisserie chickens). By juxtaposing these opposing references, Simonetti highlights the absent animal at their core—an ontological void where living creatures are replaced by representation. For her pacifier sculpture, in a similarly absurdist vein, the artist has recast this early transitional object by perverting its typically pliant head with the visceral hardness of stone, swapping the handle of the coping device with the shackle of a steel padlock.