An unusual Chandelabra, A Sea Relic and Mans Epitaph to the Sea

The more I have worked with Mermaid Purses, the more I love and admire them. If you don’t know what they are, read my previous post Mermaid Purses

This is what I created for The Cruel and Curious Art Show at Stowe Barton last weekend.

Lighting was potentially going to be difficult at this event, but having a window in my bay meant I could put it to good use… a chandelabra! I only really used the term Chandelabra because a friend always gets chandelier and candelabra confused and mixes it up. Simply lit with LED’s and hung by a rusty chain, the purses are arranged in concentric cirlces of different height and adorned with twisted wires to replicate the twisty tendrils from the dogfish egg cases.

Incredibly effective, it was greatly admired but unfortunately didn’t sell on the night, so is back in our house, but hopefully not for long. Love it.

Project number two was a little more challenging. The name, Mermaid Purse made me think of them as little containers to hold treasures, like the relics of old that are revered and held in churches. So after cutting out a section, gold leaf was applied on the back and two tiny found bones set in a resin. At the same time a single LED bulb was inserted to light it in a box.

Project number 3 was to highlight the amount of fishing net and plastics washed up on the shores. Here’s a link to a previous post The Starfish Story

The title was easy “Man’s Epitaph to the Sea”. It appears to be so wonderful, colourful and all that we associate with the sea, but is in fact totally manmade and destroying our oceans and wildlife. Found objects on this include a bubble wand, shooting cartridge and fishing tag that threatens imprisonment if not returned.