Alfred State Associate Professor of Animation Jennie Thwing will have her exhibit “Man Eat Animal Eat Man” on display at the Bret Llewellyn Art Gallery from Aug. 31 to Oct. 2.
“Man Eat Animal Eat Man” is an installation that includes a series of wall-mounted animal head sculptures, an animation titled “Run” and a life-size buffalo puppet surrounded by seagulls. The exhibition explores the ties between humanity and nature, specifically man’s love of, reliance on, and recklessness with nature. All the animals in “Man Eat Man” are found in North America and each of these animal populations has experienced change in the last two hundred years due to industrialization.
In discussing the exhibit, Thwing stated, “I chose to create a buffalo surrounded by seagulls to show that everything in the natural world is fragile, constantly changing, and impermanent. The animation depicts a man running from and towards different animals.”
Thwing is an artist, animator, and educator. She received her BFA from Tyler School of Art and her MFA from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She has had solo exhibitions at Grizzly Grizzly, Local Project, Chashama Space to Present, the Arlington Arts Center, the Center for Emerging Visual Artists, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, The Mainline Art Center, Soho 20 Gallery, School 33, Fleisher Art Memorial Dene M. Locheim Gallery, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Studio 34, and 20.20.
She has curated numerous multidisciplinary exhibitions and attended residencies in the US, Norway, New Zealand, and Canada. Her animations have been screened in numerous national and international festivals. She has received numerous awards, including the 2014 Meyer Family Award for Contemporary Art; an Environmental Art Project Grant at the Schuylkill Center; a 2013 - 15’ Center for Emerging Artists Fellowship; a 2014 SPARC Artist in Residence grant; a 2014 & 2019 Queens Arts Fund Grant, a 2024 and 2026 Wyoming Council for the Arts Individual Artist Grant and a 2025 Support for Artists Grant from the New York State Council on the Arts.
The Llewellyn Gallery located in Room 312 of the Engineering Technology Building is open weekdays 9 AM – 4 PM. There will be a Reception and Artist Talk on Thursday, Sept. 17 at Noon.
“Man Eat Animal Eat Man” will also be exhibited at the Arts Council for Wyoming County Gallery (February 2027.) The seagulls and buffalo puppet will be exhibited in the Wellsville Christmas Parade on Nov. 29, 2026.
More information about the exhibit:
Why Buffalo? The American buffalo population dropped by more than 99.9% during the 19th century. After dropping from tens of millions down to fewer than 1,000 animals by the late 19th century, conservation efforts have rebounded the population to roughly 400,000 today.
Why Seagulls? Over the past 300 years, North American gull populations experienced a dramatic cycle: they plummeted during the 19th century due to intense egg harvesting and the feather trade, exploded to historic highs mid-20th century by feeding on open-air landfills and commercial fishery waste, and are now in a steep decline due to modern trash management and shifting marine ecosystems.