we'll always have rabbits

(Paris Rabbits - Natural & White Chocolate)

“Who doesn’t like a rabbit?” I have asked, knowing full well that there are those who find these images too safe and sweet. Obviously, the image of a rabbit is a loaded image. Rabbits carry symbolic meaning that varies widely and is often contradictory. They are safe, soft, and cuddly and therefore an appropriate symbol for the child in each of us. But they are also fearful, shy, and vulnerable, and sometimes prey for the hunter. At the same time, they remind us of our own sexuality, desire, and abundance speaking to the adult in us. Ultimately, rabbits may symbolically assure us of hope and happiness for the future with new life and new beginnings. The rabbit as trickster and the artist as trickster also play an important part in my work. 

In March 2023, I returned to la Cité Nationales des Arts in Paris, for a residency that had been aborted by the pandemic in March 2020. I focused on two bodies of work using rabbit imagery - natural rabbits using source images from an October 2022 Virginia Rabbit Breeder's Association Fair and white chocolate rabbits, because it was Eastertime in Paris and there were chocolate rabbits everywhere.