Glass: Canopic jars of the Earth

Canopic jars of the Earth.  Glass, water*, air, soil, fur*, cork, sharpie.  2008
(*not in this photo)

jar toppers

Welwitzia jar.  Glass, soil, and cork.  9"x3". 2008

Scops Owl jar.  Glass, air, cork, sharpie.  9.5"x3". 2008

Mekong Giant Catfish jar.  9.75"x2.75". Glass, water*, cork, sharpie. 2008
(*water not in this photo)

Jaguar jar.  9.75"x3". Glass, fur*, cork, sharpie.  2008
(*fur not in this photo)

This shows the fur, which is real jaguar fur that I inherited.

In Egyptian culture (which I find fascinating and glean inspiration from often) a mummy was buried with four jars, sometimes in a box, that housed their internal organs--called canopic jars.  My glass piece was supposed to be a commentary on the state of the Earth, suggesting that the Earth is headed in the direction of death.  The jars house the "internal organs" that make up the Earth.  Soil, water, air, and living things.

Each jar has a head-piece that is meant to be the likeness of an endangered species that is related to each of the Earth's "organs".  The soil is represented by a Welwitschia plant, which has only two leaves that continue to grow its entire life, and proved to be a hard likeness to create.  The air is represented by an animal of flight, the Scops Owl.  Water, by the Mekong Giant Catfish.  For the living things jar, I used a jaguar headpiece, mostly because I had a piece of Jaguar fur that could be then put inside the jar.  Also, jaguars are cool.

I also drew each "organ's" molecular structure on the jars.  The air has different gases found in the air (the more of the substance, the bigger I drew the molecule).  Water just says "H2O".  The living things jar has a segment of DNA's molecular structure.  And I ended up not putting anything on the soil jar because I couldn't figure out what molecular structure to draw because soil is very complex.  (oh well...).

The jars were blown; the heads were done in blow-molds.
This piece did not see total completion.  The original design included a glass box with four compartments, one for each canopic jar, and a shallow bowl in the very center in which sat the heart scarab (see photos below).  The heart scarab was cast, the bowl was slumped plate glass.  I spent some time studying hieroglyphs; the hieroglyphs on the bottom of the heart scarab do actually say something, though I'd have to riffle through my sketch books to remember what it says (something corny, I'm sure).

The glass box did not get finished.  The piece I tried to present (to the class), used two panes of plate glass that sat in a "plus".  I tried to cut out a curved shape in the top where the shallow bowl and heart scarab sat.  I can't remember if I was successful... I do remember that those panes of glass cracked and broke in half (I'm not surprised.... The cuts I had to make in order for them to attached in a "plus" shape made the glass weak along those lines).

Earth's Heart Scarab.  3"x2" ish.  Glass. 2008

side view

front view

back view

top view

bottom view