Page 29 - The Sloughi Review - Issue 5

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W
Pamira, Pamira Schuru-esch-Schams, pencil and mixed media,
by DL Engle, 2011. 5" x 7” (40.5 cm x 505 cm).
Submitted by the artist
"There is a quality that animals possess that
has intrigued us since our beginning. With
reverence we painted and carved them on
cave walls. Through all ages and cultures
animals have inhabited our dreams and
mythologies. We see distilled in them all the
powers and mysteries of Nature and have
longed for a closer understanding and
kinship with that mystery.”
I have been a professional sculptor for
more than 40 years, living and working in
Southern California where I have made a
specialty of sculpting animals. In 2014, I
received the honor of being the inaugural
recipient of the Marilyn Newmark
Memorial Award and Grant from the
National Sculpture Society for my body of
work showing a commitment to and
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outstanding achievement in creating
animal art.
The artwork I make is based on emotive
gestures and expressions that animals
make using body language.
I am sensitive to, and enjoy working with
animals that express the full range of
their emotional lives. Because they
translate into pure expression, these
gestures make powerful and clear
statements about various states of being.
In my experience, only trained
dancers compare to animals in this form
of natural and direct communication.
I make drawings of subjects in
preparation for a sculpture or to study
form and composition. They are very