Small wooden totem (green)

At first glance, the way this item is made resembles a child’s crafts project – something made of balsa wood glued together and painted with flourescent tempera. It is three and a half inches wide and is composed of several layers of wood of equal thickness, carved into different shapes. The biggest layer at the back provides the background, giving the whole piece the arched profile of a snowdome. The layers on top of that combine to form a crude sculpture of the head of a cat, arguably a “big cat,” with Tiki-like almond shapes composing most of its head. Round pegs about a centimeter high line the front edge (suggesting savannah grasses, maybe).

A closer look reveals small, geometric etchings on the sides and surfaces of some of these layers. They don’t appear rune-like or to have any other meaning – just the carved equivalent of angular scribbles.

The unpainted underside bears the imprint of a lipstick kiss, in fuschia, over its dark, dense woodgrain.

1 comments:

1. Emily, Mon Oct 24 15:09:41 -0500 2005

   Dark, dense balsa wood. Has it been marinated in rosin?

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