SHANE EAGLETON
In Reverence for the Ancestral Feminine

A Premier Exhibition of Polynesian
Indigenous Storyboard Prints

Involve yourself in the Reverence of the Feminine. Express your internal passion for the Goddesses of the ancient in the new century.

The Cultural Conservancy is proud to invite you to share in a premiere exhibition that at once captures and holds your attention captive. The surreal combination and integration of the human metamorphosing symbolic animal dream beings that surface from the dreamtime of the ancestral relations so prominent in the indigenous Polynesian tribal life. The sight of a beautiful goddess evokes and elicits a passionate desire to take a closer and more intimate view of the feminine energy.

The story board wood blocks are carefully carved out of recycled wood with patterns and curved spiral shapes and sizes, interlaced in elaborate patterns that represent a variety of animals and plants giving the viewer a look into a zoomorphic effect and form. The juxtaposition of contemporary artists such as Shane indicates the need for a movement towards a more involved and knowledgeable society.

The animal kingdom has always haunted the human imagination, giving rise to symbolic bestiary making imaginary animals real to populate the most ancient myths, inducing fear at the same time giving serenity, personifying symbolic beasts midway between the human and supernatural spheres. Although zoomorphic figures have lost their true significance in mass art, Shane revives and resurrects the messengers or rather agents of fate, which today continue to inhabit fairytales, legends and symbolize our longing and passion for the marvelous.

The art intends to present the work in a fragmented manner, moving abruptly from theme to theme to bring out the explicit or implicit affinities between species. This trans-species perception elicits questions and a search for deeper meaning closely linked to contemplation. Whether the art evokes an expression of fear or belief of the supernatural aspiration or just plain mockery, these spectacular carvings bear witness to the universality of the many different cultures around the world. This expressive artistry is renowned for it exuberant symbolic motifs that mingle the human and animal figures revealing an intense group consciousness.

The artist Shane seeks to elicit comparisons between shape and meaning and through them, between cultures. This exhibition of pure organic art form, free of all artifice, speaks for itself. Viewers can let themselves be swept up and carried along this incredible voyage of initiation. At first glance the overwhelming energy and power leaves the viewer at times astonished...at times deeply moved and always full of awe and praise for this collection of Indigenous ethno-heritage of the "Peoples of The Water" cultures.

Dreams dominate Shane’s Aboriginal universe and play a great importance to the natural environment of aboriginal life and culture. Survival depended on integrating the positive and efficient exploration of the mineral, plant and animal resources available. This exhibition and presentation emphasizes the importance of the crossroads of cultural exchange. The brilliant and remarkable art gives life to exhibitions globally where audiences have an opportunity to see and admire while sharing their own perspectives of reconciling their own identities and heritage within the currents of contemporary art.

In this show, Shane has taken an approach that focuses on the power and the active role of his goddesses, accentuating the elements that bring them to life. Within the same realm of fantasy and reality, Shane gives voice and shape to aspects of inter-species conditions. His work fosters an interest in the exploration of inter-cultural solutions, thereby encouraging cross-cultural, inter-species dialogue.

Stand back, view, enjoy, and question.... Let the art speak to you...talk story to you of the creativity that inhabits the artist, the producer, reaching from the depths of ancestry to the future of contemporary...
From symbolic ancient to present traditional

What you see...is what it means!
What you feel...is what it is!


Yolanda Nuñez
Director of Program Development
The Cultural Conservancy