More Information
Canadian artist Shane Wilson transforms skeletal materials abandoned by Northern wildlife into alluring carved sculptures. Inspired by the inherent lines and symmetry found in antler, horn, tusk, bone, and ivory, Wilson responds to the duality intrinsic to his medium that is at once resilient and fragile, empty and full. In Self-Portrait, a carved skull has been cast in bronze, which hovers above the centre of musk oxen horns. Grappling with the limitations of it undulating curve, Wilson carves with meticulous detail into the bone-like material. The intricate relief of coalescing elements balances both biomorphic and geometric forms as it wraps around as a unified self-portrait, a representation of the artist at one with his medium.