|
I have worked on eggshells since I was a child, learning the
traditional Ukrainian art of pysanky from my mother. This is the same
Eastern Slavic tradition that produced the exquisite work of Fabrege,
who was creating jeweled eggs and objets d'art for the Russian
aristocracy.
This artistic and cultic use of eggs informs my work to this day—as
I believe that eggs are events—not simply objects. The shells (while
the protective casing for the new life inside) are memories of the
primal events that produced the eggs, intended as new life.
In order to infuse new life into this art form, I have manipulated
traditional processes with innovative dyeing and brush techniques, and
etching, to forge a new visual language to write on this versatile,
organic sphere. Each egg is a spherical space, a continuously turning
pictorial plane around which images distort, challenging common
perceptions.
I also create mosaics from broken eggshells; destroying the intensely
controlled process of carefully scripted design on the shell and turning
studio detritus into stories. Through using broken shells and adhering
them to a flat surface plane, I have reconfigured my preconceived
worldview by playing in an unknown field of shattered illusions.
As a three-dimensional phenomenon, eggshells offer unique
possibilities for sculpture. Each type of eggshells affords me unique
opportunities for expression due to the variations of texture, color and
size. I endeavor to combine these properties to create a new art, a
synthesis of ancient design toward a new worldview.
—Paul Wirhun
| 
