The Bone Collector
Description
I spent a night in the studio making something purely because I needed to get some creativity out.
There wasn’t a drawing or much of a plan. I started with some deer antlers, and the piece gradually became this strange, mythical flying creature. There are three different sets of deer antlers in him, creating the wide wings and deer-like head. Beneath the wings, his body holds a collection of kangaroo bones and other bones I’d gathered from a mate’s property.
I called him The Bone Collector.
The idea behind him was loosely inspired by a story I heard while travelling through Mongolia. Horses are deeply connected to the people and culture there, and are seen as quite spiritual. I was told that when a horse dies, its head may be removed and placed with other horse skulls, often on a hill near a village.
The huge Mongolian vultures then come down and strip the remaining flesh from the skulls. When they eventually fly away, they are said to carry the spirit of the horse with them.
The Bone Collector isn’t meant to be a horse or a vulture. He’s simply his own creature, created from that story, a collection of found bones and one of those nights when I just needed to be in the studio making something.
Dimensions
1.1m wide x 1.5m long.