Utilising animal imagery in his Wildlifes series, and superheroics in his Wildlives project, Sage Vaughn handles them with considerable sensitivity and intelligence, the less-than-straightforward co-existence of nature and technology is portrayed in the most subtle of ways. A seemingly simple picture of a bird perching on a branch, as a helicopter approaches, instantly bathes the viewer in all the mixed feelings one should have at seeing such a scene â but rarely stops to consider. In Wildlives, children in jury-rigged costumes and battle armour prepare for action, and a young worker, a frustrated shop clerk perhaps, dons a cape.
This all comes from a moustachioed gun nut who thinks of art as a privilege, not a gift ... approaching his studio at 9am and leaving at 6am, unless he's preparing for an exhibition, when he never leaves. "He is the only artist with a blue-collar mentality" said Malibu magazine. And they should know.
