To Ape: to copy / mimic

 

APE-APE is an evolving series of life-size crocheted chimpanzee skins — identical in structure yet individually freestyled — each adopting the bold colourways of childhood pop icons.

 

Displayed in constrictive boxes, the sculptures explore masking, mimicry and the tension between individuality and belonging. Drawing on personal experiences of adapting in order to fit in, the work considers identity as something both performed and constructed.

 

Influenced by graffiti, street art and the designer-toy culture from which KAWS and Be@rbrick emerged, APE-APE uses a repeated form onto which different characters and identities are projected. Familiar cultural references become skins to inhabit, blurring the line between self-expression and conformity.

 

APE-APE examines the boundaries of identity within a culture increasingly shaped by replication. Each sculpture is entirely handmade, with its labour, imperfections and variations standing in contrast to the mass-produced imagery it references.