Beauty of the Beast _ Sarah Hillock (  9 May, 2006) Beauty of the Beast By Karla Hayward A cow is not often thought of as a thing of beauty, unless you’re another cow perhaps. As it turns out, even this lowly bovine beast can be made beautiful, by the right hands. Sarah Hillock loves cows. She grew up amoung them on a small family farm in Ontario. “We had an organic farm, with cattle. They were all friends of mine, the cows, they had names. It was a great way to learn about the connections, life and death and the cycles, the natural order of things that a lot of people in the cities didn’t get,” she says. Hillock grew up, moved into Toronto and went to the Ontario College of Art and Design. She began painting, and she also became a vegan. She now eats entirely no animal products. “Growing up, I had a real sense of how the animals actually lived, as I got older I found out how other people’s cow’s lived. My cows were pretty happy, they had tones of room to run around and have fun and interact with one another in a social way and had some sort of quality of life. But the large beef farms are very cruel and it was devastating to me. I’m not against (eating beef). I believe in everything in moderation. I just believe in organic beef farming; I just want people to know that when you feel the need to eat beef, there are alternatives.” Hillock is now painting in residence at the Pouch Cove Foundation. In the four weeks since her arrival, she has created 8 works featuring her favourite subject, the cow. Representational depictions, the animals are much more engaging than one might think. But these are not the black and white jersey cows so prominently featured in kitsch kitchen art. You’ll not see these animals marching along the wall in a border, or smiling up from an oven mitt. Nor do they fall into the category of pastoral; they are neither romanticized nor unrealistic. They are in fact realer than realer; each is alive with an individual character and personality. Asked why she turns her gifted painter’s hand to such an unusual subject matter, Hillock say’s, “Why Cows? Because I think that cows are so closely related to humans.It’s almost like doing self portraits; it’s almost like what we’re doing to ourselves in a way. They live in boxes, they’re in factories, they’re herded here and there…” The works come in two variations on the theme; full body portraits, dark, brooding and imposing. The animal looms out of an empty back ground, bearing down heavily and with much intensity on the viewer. They are also captured in a smaller format, with a vague pop-art feel in ‘head shot’ portraiture on intensely coloured backgrounds. One inquisitive looking creature on a rich red background would fit particularly well in any modern home’s collection. Hillock also has impressive graphic skills; preliminary sketches of the animals she turns into paintings have the technical virtuosity of a medical drawing. Each line is strong and without hesitation but delicately executed. Hillock hopes her work speak to viewers: “They’re individuals, they’re guys out there trying to engage you, trying to say, hey I’m here too, I’ve got something to say too.” Another two months at the Pouch Cove residency lie ahead for Hillock and her cat Aphrodite, who’s along for the journey. Asked whether she’ll continue with the cows, she’s uncertain, but thinking a change of subject may be in store “I’m thinking pirates…female pirates…” Hillock’s Cows will be shown in the opening of Young Toronto Painters at the Pouch Cove Foundation exhibition space this Sunday, April 30 at 2pm. Other featured artists include Cynthia Chapman, Aleks Rdest, Nicole Vogelzang and 2004 RBC Canadian Painting Competition winner Dionne Simpson.