Slippery Signifiers In Gayle Weitz’s Foxy, Chickenhearted, And Harebrained Humananimals

Abstract

Gayle Marie Weitz is an artist and educator whose large scale, fantastic creatures, which she calls “humananimals” engage the child-me, and take me to a place of charm and peace where animals can speak English, play games, and share their wisdom. This is a place of dreams where nobody hurts, hunts, hungers, or yells except in joy. This is a place of simplicity and acceptance surrounded by wonder. These humananimals accept my child-self just as I accept them unconditionally.

The grownup me steeped in visual culture critique and feminist theory has a little more trouble. I can’t escape the baggage that has been acquired over years of living within the multiple discourses of identity and I suspect that there is more to these animals than meets my child-self’s naïve longing for peace, playmates, and security.