Christ Crucified in a Boat

Christ Crucified in a Boat, Walnut, 3.5" x 11.75", 2011

A hefty headed Christ figure is crucified to a boat, an other-wordly skiff, with the figurehead of a mythical bird. This concept came to me inexplicably while I toiled in a cube.  Inspired by gothic representations of Christ, I toyed with anatomy and proportions, working mostly from the inner eye, rather than representational sources.

St. Eve's Little Birden

St. Eve's Little Birden, Ebony, 11.75" x 3.5",  2011

A stout, voluptuous, fertile looking bird-headed, armless Eve shrugs under the weight of a maniacal little sparrowlike bird with monstrous talons, who is holding a totem mask made of a buck-tooth human skull. This was carved from a reclaimed Nubian queen sculpture, which was rescued(?) from a Goodwill. A difficult thing to capture, photographically and physically. The wood leeches light, was rife with knots, and hard as a rock. A few knots rotted out and leave the work with an ancient, untended appeal. The notion of not seeing the entirety of the sculpture from one angle was explored. When you see the front of one half, you see the back of the other, etc, as they twist in space, ad infinum.

I tested the mettle of some Cape Forge Palm Chisels on this one. 

This is what she once was. 

Wormeater Totem (Eve Weighed Down by a Reptilian Bird)

Wormeater Totem (Eve Weighed Down by a Reptilian Bird), 2010, Mahogany, 2" x 9"

A reptilian bird perches atop a humanoid skull, which is propped atop a fertile venus with a bird head. Let's call her Eve. The skull has had a tooth knocked out, evidence of an epic struggle.

And the details...

 Many thanks to the Ananda Marga Peach Farm where much of the work was done on this.