Hide (Fawn)

This sculpture was created for display at Philadelphia’s Snyderman Works Galleries, which presented the 9th International Fiber Biennial (March 7, 2014 to April 26, 2014).  The work took about nine months to complete and features roughly 40 different shades of glass seed beads in several sizes, all worked in peyote stitch.

As also is true of “Changing Spots” (a leopard head) and Tigger/Tiger (or Who She Thinks She Is), the core of this sculpture is a taxidermy form…in this case, a model for a recumbent fawn.  (Nope, I am not a hunter.  I simply am fascinated by certain creatures.)  The subject of this sculpture focuses on the interconnectedness of the young animal’s natural camouflage and its surroundings “out in the Wild,” which here become one with it.

Here are images of the completed sculpture.  (Please, see further below for views of the sculpture as it progressed.)

Hide (Fawn)

Beadwork and design by Leslie Grigsby, with assembly assistance from Lindsay Grigsby
Glass beads and thread over dense foam core, glass eyes
(Overall) L: 18″; H: 10 1/2″

Exhibited: 9th International Fiber Biennial (March 7, 2014 to April 26, 2014) at Snyderman Works Galleries, Philadelphia

Competition: International Bead Award (IBA) 2015 competition hosted by Perlen Poesie Magazine (Germany).

Private collection, Massachusetts

Note: A you can see, there is no “real” fur on this sculpture.  However, if I were a hunter, this is the type of dense foam core I would use to support the pelt of an animal.  Instead, on my sculptures, beadwork forms the fur.

In Progress (early stages): The below images show the dense foam (taxidermy) model before assembly, with the future patterning having been sketchily marked on the body and legs.  A modest number of small holes have been pierced through the animal, to help anchor the beadwork and help it fit tightly against the core’s surface, especially in sunken (concave) areas.  Peyote is the primary stitch for the beadwork.  So far, roughly 20 colors of glass beads (sizes 11/0 and 15/0) are in use.  The fawn, currently about 15″ long, will gain a bit in length later on, when we create and add his tail.

Another couple weeks have gone and my husband, Lindsay, has drilled the holes to receive the stiff wire which will allow me, eventually, to permanently attach the legs to the body.  (In the below images, the legs are only temporarily placed.)  Anne, our daughter, has helped us to trim and size the way-too-big ears, and to mark the head for the ears’ final placement…which will come much later.   The beading has progressed a fair amount, and now covers the neck and portions of the front legs.

  

Below, more of the “fur” has been completed, and the glass eyes have been inserted.  (Please return to the top of this page to view the completed sculpture.)