Artwork Description:

A Chikashsha-Irish Eurasian Wigeon in the Time of Covid is a wooden effigy sculpture of a Eurasian wigeon, a species of duck that occurs generally speaking in Europe and Asia, but one that has been known to appear in N. America. Inspired by Mississippian wooden sculpture and Irish artwork, in particular the Book of Kells, this Chikashsha-Irish Eurasian Wigeon is carved in an alert position in northern white cedar and tupelo and painted in artists’ oil colors. The two piece body and one piece head are carved with traditional hand tools and decoy making techniques of the Core Sound, North Carolina area, blended with the visual vocabulary of my Mississippian, Chikashsha, and Irish ancestors. The forked eye symbol comes from the ancestral Chikashsha sources and the central eye motif is a stylized representation of the COVID-19 virus, reflecting the period and conditions under which this sculpture was created. The breast, back, and tail feather motifs are drawn from the Book of Kells, while the speculum design reflects Moundville skull and eye and hand motifs in the configuration of the Claddagh, a symbol of love and fidelity from the town of Galway, Ireland. This piece stands prominently in my body of work, and reflects simultaneously the adherence to tradition and commitment to mediated cultural change, in the pursuit of survivance, of my Chikashsha and Irish ancestors. Materials: Northern white cedar and tupelo, artists’ oil colors