Who doesn’t like collecting seashells by the seashore but once we’re back home, we don’t think much of them. Britain based multi-media artist Rowan Mersh can however not pull himself out the enchanting beauty of the seashells hence he keeps arranging them until he transforms them into one of his breathtakingly amazing sculptures. Mersh invest 2 to 6 months to work on each sculpture and it goes without saying that every sculpture he makes has a strong underlying narrative and symbolism, based on the cultural history of the shell.
“Take my works within the Pithváva series for example—wall-based sculptures created from tens of thousands of dentalium shells, sustainably harvested along the Pacific coast of Northwest America,” Mersh explains. “Dentalium shells have been used by First Nations and Native Americans as a highly valued trade item for thousands of years. Oral history of the Yurok, an indigenous Californian tribe, refers to Pithváva, a deity who created dentalium shells and spoke of their significance in terms of a ‘sacred wealth.’ Whilst articulating my vision of this deity in visual terms, these works also explore the notion of sacred wealth as an art form through a contemporary artisanal method of creation”.
The artist also shared his work process, “I attempt to respond to each shell on its own merit to emphasize these qualities; If a shell is curved I want to show this, working fluid angles or brush strokes into the surfaces I create.”
Image Credits: © Rowan Mersh, Frankie Pike for Gallery FUMI
Rowan Mersh: Website
h/t: My Modern Met