Saturday, May 22, 2010

Ocean Creatures

In the 1990's, I had a job where occasionally I'd look out the window to the Boston harbor, and see the cormorants. They'd lift their wings to the air the sun to the environment around them. I may not have been alone in feeling a sadness in that picturesque view. Creatures like those birds have no choice but to exist in the polluted waters, the polluted air. They derive no benefit from all those massive chemicals washing downstream towards them. They must only survive, and spread their wings.

Even before the catastrophe that is now the Gulf of Mexico, (but was already a catastrophe in making as there was a 70 mile wide dead zone created by chemical runoff,) I thought of a very frought design* indicating my tension and sadness about the environment, specifically the Ocean. There is something so intimate about diving or swimming in an ocean to survive. I tried, but could not make any design so loaded with feeling work. I hope at sometime to be able to. I'll call those pieces "Killing the Ocean." The below piece, called "Small Hope" is the only thing I could get going on. It's more designy, and is less about hope than a letting go of total despair. It is the only thing I could do. Hence the name. Not that the design itself says "hope."

I won't be able to get this piece finished in time for the May challenge. The center tentacle area is to be cast in bronze, along with the circle beside it. The 2 side pieces will be in silver.



*This design is for the May challenge on the Metalsmith's thread. It was for an Ocean creature, highly polished. Not sure the tentacle piece will get highly polished, but maybe!

7 comments:

Michelle H. said...

It's incredibly creative! Good luck with the May challenge.

MAB from OtterCatHaus said...

This is going to be quite a lovely, soulful piece.

Almost Precious said...

I like the design, it is imaginative and open to one's interpretation. It is also fluid and very attractive.

As for the Gulf of Mexico oil slick, it breaks my heart...I live on the west coast of Florida, just south of Tampa/St.Pete. Our beaches around the Sarasota area are like sugar white sand (only finer, feels like walking on talcum powder). Can't help but fear what will happen if the crude oil washes up on our shores. Good-bye tourism ! :(

Suldog said...

To my imagination, part of it looks a good deal like tangled seaweed. In any case, I like it.

Angie said...

Wow, that's amazing! I can't even imagine the amount of time that goes into this!

Unknown said...

This is a beautiful piece Chris! It captures (especially seeing how it transformed from the scetch into the carving) the feel you were going for. I got a sense of the tentacles dragging, sluggish, but a head lifting upward. Of course all things are are open to interpretation by the viewer but it has a very water-esque creature appeal. This whole thing in the Gulf is eating me alive right now as a Greenie. ANY hope is good :-)

Kim Caro said...

wow i hope i get to see it