Shapeshifters Animal Talisman Necklace

This necklace is inspired by the animated artwork my son used to draw when he was in the pure imagination world. I knew this phase would transition into something else and wanted to work with him and the stunning naïvité of his animals. So this animal garland necklace was born. Animals are instinct, they are entirely at home where they live, they move freely between modes of rest, intensity and play.

 An invitation to remember the animal, to recall the intimacy of touch and embodiment.

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Since he was very young, my son has had a natural ability to capture the gesture of animals. He watches them closely and absorbs images of them from books like a sponge. I’m moved by his ability to capture small details that give the image more character than I’ve ever been able to capture in artwork. The house is full of his imagery, with focus on the musculature and paw formation, wings and beak that I simply could never create. I was always dissatisfied with my figurative paintings, they seemed lifeless. Perhaps that’s why I use pattern and the abstract instead.
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Then, suddenly, one day this year I was overcome with the desire to create tiny wax models of animals in his style, this primative style that’s full of gesture and emotion. I felt possessed by something that had come from him, and ten animals came through my fingertips. I felt connected to them in a way I never could with painting. I feel they’re dynamic and honest in a way that lacks the burden of detail. Maybe it’s that to translate an idea into beeswax is so much harder than with pencils, but I really like what’s come through.
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This is the first of collaborations between my son and me, and I really hope there will be more, but I shall have to see what the future holds, as he has his own path that he must walk.