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paperzopilote — reliquary trio for the lost
Published: 2010-01-03 02:04:55 +0000 UTC; Views: 1432; Favourites: 38; Downloads: 32
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Description
three ritual object "dolls" created to embody three people whom I have loved and lost in death or disappearance.i find that when people leave my life, i recreate them using familiar symbols and imagery that I can easily associate with them. often this mythology is more powerful and prevalent in my mind than the people ever were in life.
The eagle (left, my dad) is stuffed with sand, cactus, rabbit fur, and my hair. The rabbit (middle, a friend) is stuffed with broken glass. The deer (right, my grandpa) is stuffed with clay, venus flytraps, and my hair.
On each forehead is a ball of beeswax. Honey was once believed in some European countries to be food for the dead.
heads are polymer clay, bodies white linen.
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Comments: 17
Bravo! These are brilliant and deserve much more attention than they seem to have been getting. I have a few questions if you don't mind. Can you elaborate when you say these objects are more prevalent to you in your mind? How do you feel once you've finished one of these pieces? If you were to make one to commemorate your death what would it look like? Do you feel like you could ever part with one? Thank you for posting these.
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creepy indeed...and very compelling, you obviously put a lot of care into your work, both in terms of the actual making and in the emotional energy you put into it.
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I really love how delicate and rendered the heads are, while the bodies stay very simple. The darker, warm points on the ears and noses are such a nice touch---I know that this particular kind of sculpey turns that color when it burns in thinner places, was it accidental (and beautiful) or planned/painted?
The ritual aspect of this is very compelling too...I can't get enough of talismanic objects.
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Thank you.
The darkness was unplanned, I was originally going to paint them. When they came out I saw where they were darker and liked it, so I put them in the oven a little longer to make the darkness more apparent so I WOULDN'T have to paint them.
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A powerfully original take on an ancient tradition of ritual remembrance. I was at first taken with the resemblance to the mummified cat offerings to Bastet created in ancient Egypt. Your use of the stitched bifurcation of the lower body (particularly the crossed version on the eagle body) suggests stylized 'legs' which adds an eerie anthropomorphic quality to the pieces.
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"Let us beware of saying that death is the opposite of life. The living being is only a species of the dead, and a very rare species."
-(Friedrich Nietzsche)
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Thank you. Someone in my class noted their similarity to animal mummies, I like the comparison.
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You are welcome! Interesting gallery so far. I'll be back when I can spend a little more time.
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"Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well." -(Voltaire)
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So much atmosphere in these pieces, especially after reading the description, truly outstanding. Well done.
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damnnn. i like how much thought you clearly put into them, and how theyre stuffed with different things. a more than meets the eye situation type thing.
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thanks, yeah. I struggled with the idea of putting more effort into them than any viewer would see, but i'm glad I did them the way i did.
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Beeswax? Broken glass? Object dolls? This is very, very, very creepy. Sorry to see you have lose these people.
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rather cool and creepy but i like the idea... i tend to collect dead things
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I hope you don't take offense, but it's mildly creepy.
However, I still find it to be a beautiful thing. I think it's wonderful that you put that kind of effort and thought into making things like that for loved ones. It's very nicely done, and after reading your comments on it, it's even more beautiful.
Your father, friend, and grandfather are lucky to be remembered by someone like you.
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thank you so much!
I don't mind that they are a little creepy. It started off as a project for class, but I found that it was impossible to create a "ritual object" without investing real emotion. they ended up holding a lot of their own power, in my eyes. (So I suppose looking creepy allows that power to translate to a viewer who doesn't hear the story behind them)
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From my experience (and it's fairly limited) anything that has any spiritual significance to an individual is creepy to others (or me atleast) until I understand the spiritual significance. I can look at it and see that it's something related to death. It looks the part. So, it comes off as creepy.
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