Egg Art.
I was recently asked to decorate an ostrich egg for a local exhibition. The aim is to auction the eggs so that they might raise money for the Side by Side charity. The pressure to decorate such a perfect structure caused me much torment. Many of my maquettes seemed to be more successful due to the smaller scale. I revisited eggs collected from my uncle's organic farm and had endless amounts of joy trying to pierce them, stitch back together and reassemble strange interiors and exteriors. The project followed on quite naturally from drawings, collages and sculptures I have been experimenting with over the past year. from a multitude of preliminary sketches and samples came quite a reduced and refined response. Rather than paint, or etch into as I had considered early on, I dressed the egg in a protective form using paper, wire and feathers. The slightly off white, yellowing, dimpled form which I was so reluctant to cover, nestles in an egg of its own. 'Its a vagina!," the photographer cried. "A womb, of sorts," I insist as the themes which have plagued my health in the past few years were constantly present whilst worked. Swirling feathers on fragile wires sit beneath gently peeling and rippling paper. A pale paper folds back on itself into a deep red centre. The work will be featured in the next edition of the Jersey Now and then available to see in St Helier shop window before to long. Details will follow.
Tuesday 09 March 2010
Portrait of the Artist |
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A portrait of the artist known as Miss Shippers. 2009. |
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Egg Art... |
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Sketchbook page linking to recent ostrich egg designs. |
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