The Seed

32” X 10”

Mixed media: lamb skull, eland horns, carp, silver, partridge skull, wasp nest, oyster shells, deer antler, driftwood

“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28) (NIV).

Oftentimes when we are discussing our impact upon the ecology, we make reference to our “footprint”.

But I have sometimes wondered if perhaps it is not our feet that we should be focusing on….

This tall, lithe figure of a man, with arms truncated, is raised up on the points of two long and slender eland horns which from his legs. His head is tilted downwards as he gazes thoughtfully at his disproportionately large and erect penis.

The penis is made from deer antler, and the head is formed from a partridge skull. In the bird’s mouth appears to be a sterling silver worm. Opening the hinged jaw to look inside, we discover that instead, it is a “toxic sperm” made from silver and garnets and pearl, that surrounds a tiny vial of mercury in its head.

His testicles are constructed from heavily barnacled oyster shells.

On one side, in the half shell, appears the fragile beginnings of a tiny wasp nest, nestled safely within a tarnished silver sphere. It is being weighed against his own beautiful sperm on the opposite side, formed from a large black pearl and silver, that is being clasped within the partially open oyster shell which is his other testicle.

His upper torso is formed from two halves of a lamb skull, splayed in such a way that the two rows of teeth turn in towards each other at the center of his chest, and the eye sockets turn outwards to form the hollows of his shoulders. The eland’s cranium forms his pelvis. It has been cut, and his penis and testicles protrude out from the large gaping hole.

His elongated neck is made from a slender tree branch that curves upwards following the line of his erect penis. His featureless face is formed from bone and bisected with thin raised ridge. Thin strands of his long and richly hued hair, of browns and deep dark greys, fall down along the sides and back of his neck.

Closer examination reveals that his hair is actually comprised of many tiny desiccated fish, with twisted bodies and gaping mouths that display fine, thin lines of razored white teeth. These little carp had been found, washed up on our shores, in the aftermath of a toxic algae bloom. On his reverse, his back is open and exposed.

Tiny stems off of a main branch, covered in in rough bark, form his spine and attached ribcage.

This structure can be removed. Nestled within the ribcage, we can discover his lungs and heart, formed from driftwood and roots and adorned with delicate fine silver filagree and topaz.

Inside the cavity of his body, dark driftwood and silver forms his stomach, esophagus, pancreas and spleen, and formed from a small piece of driftwood, found at the beach, amidst the many dead little fish, is his liver.

Photo Credits: Marina Dempster