Skeleton Project
The part of the skeleton I chose is the left hand. Being mixed-handed, I was interested to explore the left hand. I write with my right hand but I throw pots left handed. I draw with my right hand but I do (did!) the high jump from a left handed stance. This is mixed handedness.
I also had an energetic body work experience recently and this inspired the form of my sculpture.
The spirals of the fingers were actually shaped around my own fingers- with spirals at the end to suggest unique fingerprints
The knuckles at the base of the fingers were made by winding and weaving the wire into irregular balls.
The wrist is based on observation from the skeleton in the studio to try and include some anatomical realism.
At this stage I felt the sculpture need something more and chatted with Angela. She suggested I incorporate some thinner wire, which I bought at the jewellery making store.
I took a large crochet hook and crocheted the thinner wire around the metacarpals. Once crocheted, I manipulated the wire until I was happy with the shape.
I anchored the thinner wire in the wrist area before I crocheted it. I secured more thin wire at the knuckle area and twisted it up the fingers to suggest flashes of energy travelling through the hand. I also added a spiral in the main body of the hand to represent the movement of energy. This was inspired by my love of spirals and the historic use of this symbol in the ‘palm’ of the hand, as seen in the art of several cultures around the world. Finally the knuckles were augmented with additional pieces of wire to make them more prominent.
Here is a link to my hand video on Youtube
Left Hand
.
I made a cage of my hand
delicate and spare
took the energy of my fingers
and followed the spirals
.
Knuckles became loud expressions
of gnarled arthritic beauty
woven with a grandmother’s love
.
Carpals nestled at the base
like interlocking rocks on the seashore
whispers of anatomy
.
Fine wire crocheted around
metacarpals and flew off
at tangents from the phalanges
.
Gesture arrived in the sign for ‘perfection’
with opposable thumb curving
to meet index finger
still speaking after death
.
A left hand, one of a pair
able to make, create, destroy and mould
~ the author of its own likeness
.
By Carys Owen
Collaborative Skeleton
As a group we assembled the skeleton and each person spoke about their own contribution. I was interested to hear about the spine, where the creator had figured out a design for one vertebra and then replicated it to form the complete spine. In the end we worked as a group to problem solve how to support the spine so it didn’t stretch out with the weight of the other bones. Initially, threads were attached between the pelvis and the rib cage and eventually these were unnecessary as the skeleton was installed in a support reclined pose, which took the weight off the spine.
Installation
The group who worked together on the installation decided to suspend the heart slightly above the rib cage in order to offer sufficient space to appreciate each exquisite part of the skeleton.
The heart was beautifully made with twists and coils to accurately express the structure of a human heart. The group who installed it tried to hang it with accuracy in mind but the suspended nature of the heart means it may sometimes appear ‘back to front’. That was deemed to be acceptable by the small group of installers, given the whimsical posture of the skeleton.
