Throughout societies this emblem can fascinate, repel, and has a widespread charm, especially in jewellery design.
Emma Witter’s intricate bone work presents an animal skull combined with some flowers made from smaller animal bones. She collects food waste and combs the banks of the river Thames for her carefully constructed sculptures. Her method involves an extensive cleaning process before the bleached rigid skeletal tissues are assembled and transformed into artistic expressions.
Witter’s assemblages are astonishingly elaborate and instilled with femininity, as well as emphasising her interest in discarded objects and abandoned spaces. Over the past few years, the artist has been particularly interested in inhabiting, working, and exhibiting in temporary vacant urban spaces. Her pale and opaque pieces are quiet yet compelling expressions. Owing to Witter's nomadic lifestyle - a life in boxes – these current artworks are small-scale, easy to protect and transfer. To her, these intricate pieces are offerings or precious jewels of embellishment.
Image:
Emma Witter, Skulls & Flowers, 2019, Bone and brass wire, H240 mm x W280 mm x D140 mm.
Courtesy and ©Emma Witter and Renée Pfister Art & Gallery Consultancy, 2024.
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