Daddy's Girl (2019-2022)
(performance)
Using Facebook as a research tool, I spent the last few years of the covid-19 pandemic contacting hunters and Plott hound breeders in the USA to find the perfect dog for my dad. During this research, I came across an American High school Art teacher who breeds Plott hounds and trains them for bear hunt, as well as families who enjoy hunting together, bringing their children and babies in the hunting field.
I have since started an open dialogue with the Plott Hound breeders and hunters my father suggests and became part of online female hunting groups in an effort to search for digital footprint of hunting ‘sharenting’.
This project is an attempt to illustrate the compulsive behaviour behind family entertainment through the particular sport and the passive-aggressive element of hunting as a child. The research consciously focuses on the photos of young girls hunting because I am also a hunter’s daughter.
‘Daddy's Girl’, curated by Dimitrios Antonitsis was exhibited on the 15th of May 2022 at a Greek taverna in Athens. Large wooden cutouts of hunting scenes were installed in the wood shear walls of the tavern, along with in a series of lenticular prints depicting hunting trips and family portraits, collected from my father’s digital hunting community. During the opening event, hunters were invited into the show to bring their Plott Hound dogs which participated in a live performance.