ANIMAL TOKENS By Kasia Posen




I was born in London in 1983. I spent my small years growing up in Suffolk. I
moved back to London to study in 2003 and have lived here since.
My Great Grandfather from my father’s side of the family moved from India
( possibly Bangalore ) to live in the UK in the late 1800’s. Here he worked as a
chauffer to the chellist Beatrice Harrison. This mysteious man changed his surname
to that of the German pronunciation of a city in Poland - ‘Poznan’ - Posen.
My Great Grandfather from my mother’s side of the family was Scottish, he
settled in Grenada in the West Indies where he met his Grenadian wife. His son
( my Grandafather James McIntyre ) then moved to the UK where he met my
Grandmother Monica (who was also from Grenada). My West Indian Grandparents
raised my mother in Kentish Town. When I moved to Kentish Town 1 year ago
it was a surprise to me that I moved just two roads away from where my mother
grew up. I enjoy walking past her old house with my daughter, showing her the
house that her Grandma and Great Grandparents used to live in - the house with
the red door.
These are the people that came before me, these are the drawings that I would
like to share with you. Each of us has a huge history that comes before us. Without
all these people, the choices they made and the tiny details that made their
lives - I would not exist. Each of these drawings is a totem to a growing number
of plants and animals that are rapidly disappearing in this country. This is largely
to do with loss of habitat. It would be so sad to loose their stories, their history,
their efforts and choices. It is not just those who are disappearing who will be
suffering. One example is the the declining bee population, they play a crucial
role in pollination, the loss of them would be disastrous for those left behind.

POSEN.KASIA@GMAIL.COM
http://kasiaposen.blogspot.co.uk/