Page 22 - Dark Matter Issue5 Part II

animals and addresses the plight of elephant and rhinoceros poaching and the terrible

loss in these animal populations.

There is a historical and artistic connection between furniture and memorials, including

coffins and sarcophagi. At some point in history, the designs of these two seemingly

disparate classes of objects were intertwined. Several of my recent works are in the form

of cenotaphs, sarcophagi and Buddhist shrines.

The wildLIFE Project began with

the construction of five large life-

sized elephant masks. The

challenge for me was to resolve

how I could make such large forms

without the weight and mass that

one would normally encounter. I

work alone in my studio and I

wanted to find a way to make

these and still be completely

independent. I used to sew

clothing when I was a teenager

and so I adapted a patternmaking

technique that would allow me to

work with thin lightweight pieces of

wood and stitch them together in

such a way that the form would

become a three-dimensional form

when hung on the wall. The

process was also cathartic: the

process of stitching these pieces became a therapeutic act of trying to fix a very complex

problem (poaching).

Cenotaph. http://wendymaruyama.com/artwork/3844286-Cenotaph.html