For me the 'imagining' what lies beneath the skin of my island was easy - there is something about my original model that speaks of its history - of the limestone karsts it represents - made up of thousands of years of decaying sea creatures (shells, bones etc), so rather than looking directly at the form of the island, I chose to chose something that would represent the meat and bones - something that would resemble both its strength and its weakness, its power and its delicacy, its magnificence and its insignificance - Those huge rock formations that support life, that resist the power of the ocean, that you can climb and feel so small next to, that are actually made up of tiny little remains of sea creatures! I looked at the strongest animal structures, which we also use in construction and the result was a spiral shell, like that of an ammonite fossil:
The ammonite not only reflects the theories I have put behind what it represents, but it is just simply a BEAUTIFUL shape and one which I would like to work with in order to proceed with my project.
Working with wire in order to make a spiral proved easier said than done - it just seemed to have a life of its own! The problem with working with such a perfect shape (spiral), is that unless I get it absolutely spot-on perfect, then it just doesn't work. I decided to use a prop to shape the wire around - the closest piece of equipment to hand was my water bottle:
Having perfected the spiral, demonstrating the strength of the island, I still wanted to include the delicate nature of its substance. I found a very thin wire (from a scourer!) and continued forming the shell using these. Despite all my best intentions and justifying what I had done, it kind of ended up looking like a Christmas decoration.... Note to self - money-saving idea for this winter, no need to buy tinsel, use scourers instead. Oh, and don't use scourers for any kind of model during this course unless its around the end of December when it may be appreciated.
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