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Maddy Buttling
maddybuttling@gmail.com








monkey moms


2022-2023
A series of paintings made from a documentary I found on YouTube, called My Child Is A Monkey. The video follows the lives of controversial ‘monkey moms’ in the US, who appear to keep their pets as surrogate children. Plucked from their natural mother’s backs as newborns, pet monkeys cling to stuffed toys rocking back and forth to simulate the motion of swinging through trees in the wild. Domestic scenes are shown where fear grimaces are mistaken for smiles, and a diabetic monkey is encouraged to eat her salad with extra dressing. I captured stills from such moments in the documentary as references, and titled the paintings after quotes said in each particular scene.

click to watch 'My Child Is A Monkey' ↓

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XooaIOnsjB0&ab_channel=RealStories




i'm happy just to be with my monkeys oil on plywood, 13cm x 23cm Pet monkeys become aggressive once they reach adulthood, and will act out by attacking those around them. This particular monkey is attached to a lead to prevent it from hurting its human siblings. The owner kisses her monkey as she states: "keeping people away isn't a big deal for me because I'd rather have them just to myself anyways. I'm happy just to be with my monkeys" the monkey whisperer oil on plywood, 13cm x 23cm "Primate trainer Lisa has been showing monkey moms how to look after and tame their mon-kids for the last sixteen years. A legend in the mon-kid world, 45 year old Lisa is often called the monkey whisperer." Lisa's own pet monkey travels with her everywhere, and in this scene they are leaving the airport on their way to visit a client. While monkey trainers claim they can tame pet monkeys, wild animals cannot be trained like domesticated animals. Fear based, domination tactics are all too often used. And even after a degree of successful taming has occurred, monkeys may still lash out at their owners, causing life-threatening injuries. he's smiling oil on plywood, 13cm x 23cm In this scene an infant monkey is being collected from a breeder by his new owner. The owner remarks that he is to be named George as she holds him up in the air to get a good look at him. "He's smiling and raising his eyebrows, and doing all kinds of things" she chuckles. you like dressing oil on plywood, 13cm x 23cm The camera follows a monkey named Lacey as she is brought home from a check up at the vet’s. It was bad news, Lacey has diabetes and her owner has been told she must stop feeding her junk food. For dinner that evening, instead of serving the monkey her usual pasta, she hands her a plate of salad. She says “how about some dressing, you like dressing” and squeezes a bottle over Lacey’s meal. i'm a monkey mom oil on plywood, 13cm x 23cm 66 year old Audrey attempts to coax her monkeys, Cleo and Lacey, out of their air-conditioned cage. She states "I’m a monkey mom, that’s my identity. I don’t have an identity, I’m just a monkey mom. They’re not animals to me, they’re like little hairy people".