The Whisper of the Dead

William Maples, a forensic anthropologist wrote “The science of forensic anthropology consists of listening to the whispers of the dead.”

I am neither an anthropologist nor am trained in forensics, but one aspect of my artistic explorations deal with “recycling” – using what a living animal body had left behind and giving it a new identity and expression.

To do so, I have to listen to what the bone, the hide, the feather or the horn wants to become. Forcing an identity even upon a remnant of a dead animal does not express itself well.

… So, I came across the vertebrae of an elk. These have been in the desert for a while as they are sunbleached, brittle and chewed upon by critters over time.

Here are the two vertebrae. Of course it is noticeable that the one on the left has turquoise stones on it. It is because I forgot to take a picture of the vertebrum before I started working on it…..!

Here is the one that when turned around looked like a ram’s head to me. So I did very basic work with oil paint and a couple of turquoise stones.

And voilà, the chewed-upon petrified elk vertebrum now has a new identity!

It is of course incomplete and will probably paint upon the forehead. But in the simplicity of listening to the whispers of this vertebrum, I filled a corner of my work desk with a unique expression.

April 8, 2018

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2018