Title: Lotus

Material: Salmon Bones, Grass Carp Bones, Hot Glue

Dimensions: 9″ x 9″ x 6.5″

For this second project, I aimed to create something to portray life and decay. When I heard life and decay, I immediately thought of bones as bones are one of the most common symbols of life and decay. Then I thought about what to do with the bones and came up with the idea of creating a lotus flower with bones. The lotus flower is a very symbolic item in the eastern religions, representing purity, enlightenment, self-regeneration, and rebirth. The bones decay and give nutrients for other organisms to consume and prosper, in a sense giving life after death. As I worked on the flower, I noticed a few pieces of bone that looked rather interesting and decided to create butterflies with them. While butterflies and lotus flowers have no direct connection, butterflies are also a symbol of life, death, and especially souls across numerous religions. I incorporated the butterflies to show lost souls after death gathering on the lotus for their turn at rebirth.

There were many annoying and difficult things I encountered when creating this piece. Cleaning off the fish bones took an immense amount of time. I had to repeatedly pick off the meat and wash the bones until they were fully clean of any meats and oils, but in the end, there were still many small crevices that I could not get to even after soaking the bones. There is also a lingering smell to it. This process was the most time-consuming part of the process. Next came the piecing process. I had to use tong tweezers to slowly and carefully piece everything together. Many of the bones needed adjustments as well, so I had to clip and file away at basically all of them. There was a point in time when the piece fell over and dropped onto the stairs. My heart literally just dropped, but miraculously, I held on. Nothing broke off and it was all intact. The final product came out to be approximately 6.5” in height and 9” in diameter.