Bit of exciting news! I’ve finished these bird skull sculptures, and they’re in the shop for you peruse.
I used a mix of photo references and 3D scans of actual bird skulls to hand sculpt these pieces, taking artistic liberties here and there.
I stepped outside of my experience to make these, and I’m so happy that I did.
For this round, I chose to make an Australian Magpie, an Australian Emu, a New Zealand Kea, and a Crow (non-specific region).
Memento Mori
Over the past few years, as people in my life have inevitably passed, I’ve become more drawn to the question of what it means to die, or to be dead, and how we reconcile the death of those we love, while we are still living.
Memento Mori (“remember, you must die”) is a Latin phrase that seeks to reminds us that life is temporary, transitory, and once.
Though a lot of people prefer not to think of death, particularly after experiencing loss, I’ve personally found it to be therapeutic; both for processing grief, and for confronting my own mortality.
I’ve focused on birds skulls in particular for a few reasons.
I find the external visibility of their beaks very interesting aesthetically – the way they’re connected to their skulls makes which bird you’re looking at in death recognisable – unlike other animals, which are more ambiguous (including us).
The second reason is that it really is true: bird watching does creep up on you as you get older.
A family of five Magpie’s hang out in front of our house, and our local cemetery is filled with Crows; Minor Birds, Black Birds, Little Wattle Birds and Pigeon’s fly in and out of our backyard all day. I see birds, both dead and alive, all the time. It made sense to recognise them this way.
And the third reason: birds are the descendants of dinosaurs. That they exist alongside us is a reminder that, despite death not being optional, vestiges of us remain – transmuted into other forms.
Each of these pieces took considerable time to make; the Magpie and Crow took around 20 hours, and the Kea and Emu took around 30.