Capybara Carries a Vision

2022
Poplar, cherry, copper, silver, brass, vitreous enamel
16” x 7”x 10”

The creature peers up into the sky he carries above his head, looking into a collection of personal constellations.

The dome is unusually large for a cloisonné object, and pairing wood and enamel opened ideas for new sculptures. This is the first in a series of animal-form pieces integrating enamel with other materials. The pieces incorporate echoes of wooden toys, religious relics, mythological creatures, and references to treasured works of art and literature.

The constellations are allusions to elements in the novel The Master and Margarita, a personal creative touchstone. The book— inventive, ambitious, and both deeply personal and connected to other great artworks—was written in Stalinist USSR with no hope of finding an audience. The faith Bulgakov showed in writing his masterpiece—that works of art are part of a long conversation between cultures over millennia—is at the core of my personal work.