24/01/2026
I'm on my second attempt at reading Roberto Calasso's 'Celestial Hunter'. I got stuck on the first chapter thinking about his descriptions of ancient rituals and mythologies where during a hunt, the bear morphs between the predator, prey, divine being, human, animal and ancestors.
The next day I saw Dot playing with her happy meal teddy bear and it felt a bit absurd that we had this little bear in our home. Doing rituals similar, but so far removed, to those ancient ones described by Calasso - dressing up as bears, nursing and caring for them, giving them names and familial roles but in this teddy form.
I've started to notice how these wild things have become a part of our homes, entering our domestic sphere. They're there to play with, when we're sick, we consume them, read about them and sing about them. In these pieces, I'm exploring that connection and the context of these bears in our homes.
Some images that came into my mind:
Mcdonald's teddy bear
Bears on nan's bed
Bears on a hospital bed
Bears on beds on Rightmove photos
Gummy bears
Bears in Dots arms
Nathalie Haynes describing the dancing girl bears - arktoi
Going on a bear hunt
I can't go over it, I can't go under it, I'm probably gonna stick it in a printing press.
(Screen print, relief print, and pen, copper plate etchings)
