The concept of decay is one that many people tend to avoid. Decay itself can be an unpleasant sight and reminds us of our own mortality. Death is ever looming, and many wish to avoid topics that remind them of it. However, by avoiding the topic of decay they miss the beauty that can result from it. My piece represents the process of decay and the beauty of life. I crafted a deer skull out of clay and waited for it to completely harden. I then coated the piece in molten sugar and used the sugar as an adhesive to attach sunflower seeds. Once the sculpture was completed, I placed it beneath a tree in my backyard and documented the decay of the work. The element, animals, and bugs all contributed to the process of this piece. Every day a new group of seeds would disappear, clay would crumble, and sugar would go missing. The work speaks to the circle of life. The seeds fed the squirrels, and the sugar fed the ants, but at the cost of my sculpture. As one thing decays, it brings new life to the environment around it. The process itself is beautiful and a pleasure to document.
Title: FEED
Material: Clay, sugar, sunflower seeds
Size: 1.5’ x 6”
Commet by Linda Wintraub
This is a fine work interpretation of the connection between the death of one kind of living entity serving as a source of sustenance for new forms of life. I wonder if you are willing to expand on this idea by applying it to a situation that is familiar to most of us and that typically produces a squeamish response – road kill! The typical way of handling a carcass by the side of the road is to avoid contact. Might you introduce a new interpretation that is consistent with the Beyond Death theme? You might even place the sculpture in a roadside ditch.