The Shearer and the Sheep – Sibylle Braendli

What began as a prosaic interest in how sheep are shorn turned into a fascination with the world of shearing – the improbable encounter between a craft that can’t be mechanized and the exigencies of modern sheep farming.
As part of my research, I watched countless YouTube videos to understand the choreography of turning the sheep on its axis while performing the corresponding shearing blows. I became intrigued with the close physical contact between sheep and shearer and the skill it takes to keep the animal calm and unharmed. No two sheep are alike and there are different shearing traditions. It’s a delicate task involving not only strength but the willingness to spend long hours doing backbreaking work at speed. I decided to capture the moment when the sheep is tipped on its back and the shearer hunches over it in a kind of embrace to begin with the left side. It’s crucial that by this time the sheep has settled.
I chose dark vibrant colours for the shearer to create an effect of envelopment and vigour. The depiction of the off-white sheep follows a diagonal and captures how the head is gripped between the shearer’s thighs as the fleece comes off towards the lower lefthand corner. Subdued greens and blues express northerly sheep farm landscapes. I’m posting two photos of the full piece at different values depending on the light (not enhanced in any way).