To Put Wings on Shoulders and Claws on Fingers: For Kira and Rama

To Put Wings of Shoulders and Claws on Fingers: For Kira and Rama connects to the artist’s experience isolating cells from the bodies of two fetal calves – Kira and Rama – while on residency at SymbioticA in 2010.  The work consists of dioramas containing miniature landscapes composed of the tanned and salted hides of the fetal calves.  Nestled within the landscapes are two chairs with bird feet and butterfly wings.  The empty chairs signify a period of waiting, as though, once occupied, they will take flight, in the same way that Kira and Rama’s cells are waiting to be thawed and transformed into an immortal cell line.  The butterfly wings connect to this idea of transformation.  They have skulls painted on them indicating the death of the calves and the links between creative and destructive forces.  Covered in white salt, the landscapes appear frozen in an icy winter, indicating the current frozen state of Kira and Rama’s cells.  However, underneath the salted hide landscape, lush grass spills out indicating the coming thawing and revival of the cells.

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