Shadow Migrations, 2015

Animal populations that were threatened in the 20th century, are now rebounding and showing up in “our backyard.” Wild animals are finding their way into suburban and urban environments even as human populations sprawl into their natural habitats. While many species populations have been destroyed, some are adapting and thriving on the largesse of urban and suburban life. Hawks dive from high rise cornices to feast on the rich urban population of pigeons and rats; bears walk through New Jersey neighborhoods; and coyotes are turning up in many boroughs of NYC.

Klemperer’s animal silhouettes are shadows, essences of their worldly form that appear fleeting and at times fleeing. Migration is inherent to both humans and animals, as natural and manmade changes force movement to more hospitable regions. The steel forms are punctuated with cutouts in the shape of countries from around the world. Each animal is a melting pot, bearing countries on its body that are also represented in the US population, a country that has been and continues to be built on immigrants. The nations represented are also a record of where that animal once thrived, or, at times, where they are most threatened. Shadow Migration invites contemplation of nature in an urban setting and of the circumstances of natural diversity in a modern world.

The silhouettes in this exhibition are based on three-dimensional sculptures made from salvaged steel that Klemperer exhibits, some of them permanent, throughout the United States.

A second version of this installation was exhibited in Summit NJ in2016 through Summit Public Art