Jars of Oddities II
Ovies aries (sheep) + Crotalus adamanteus (rattle snake) +callinectes sapidus (crab)
The second piece from the series Jars of Oddities looks at animal hybrids and several other motifs that define beauty. This morbid assemblage brings together biological archetypes that sit contrary in the spectrum of how we define beauty. The question pertaining to the previous piece still persists (i.e isn't beauty enhanced when added over ?). I tried to bring together archetypes that are conventionally termed beautiful and hideous into a single imagery making me wonder the impact of context these entities are placed in. Would we still call swans beautiful if they swim in the murky waters? Or is a gem-studded human skull still considered morbid and ugly? This exercise examines the presence/absence of context around objects or ideas when we call them beautiful or ugly. These jars are an ode to finding answers to these questions. The idea pays tribute to the jars of Frederic Ruysch - a Dutch anatomist and botanist remembered mainly for his methods of anatomical preservations.
Jars of Oddities is born out of my love for biology, symbolism, and highlighting lost stories in a palette of gold and black.