Friday, June 3, 2016

Friday Egg: Omphaloskepsis

"Omphaloskepsis" ©Katy David 2016. Goose egg, aniline dye, acrylic paint

This one is an unusual piece. Two pieces, actually. Each one is half of the same egg, cut in half and mounted in a frame so that the inside of the eggshell is displayed. 

Most often people see this after an egg is broken, after the worst thing in the world has happened, so they probably are too upset to see how beautiful the inside of the eggshell is. What you are seeing is what happens inside the eggshell when I work on the outside with my dyes and wax. The pores of the shell take the dye in and then it travels through the membrane, reacting to the heat of my hand as it holds the egg.

In order to highlight this beautiful "conversation" between me and the materials, I painted over the pattern I created on the outside of the eggshell with matte black acrylic paint. I want the materials to be the star in this piece.


"Omphaloskepsis" ©Katy David 2016. Goose egg, aniline dye, acrylic paint


"Omphaloskepsis" ©Katy David 2016. Goose egg, aniline dye, acrylic paint

"Omphaloskepsis" ©Katy David 2016. Goose egg, aniline dye, acrylic paint

"Omphaloskepsis" ©Katy David 2016. Goose egg, aniline dye, acrylic paint

"Omphaloskepsis" ©Katy David 2016. Goose egg, aniline dye, acrylic paint

"Omphaloskepsis" ©Katy David 2016. Goose egg, aniline dye, acrylic paint

"Omphaloskepsis" ©Katy David 2016. Goose egg, aniline dye, acrylic paint

"Omphaloskepsis" ©Katy David 2016. Goose egg, aniline dye, acrylic paint