Ornithology c. 1980

Stella Waitzkin made Ornithology, a sculpture of three birds on a stack of books, using resin. I can see the layers of color, dark and moody, like aged objects excavated from the earth. I imagine Waitzkin in her studio, mixing and pouring the resin, maybe adding pigment, or maybe she painted the surface after it hardened? I wonder if she ever felt like she was playing god, creating life out of inanimate materials? I know I sometimes feel that way in my studio, like a mad scientist brewing up something new and unexpected. I love the patina and the way she allows the material to have its own say. The birds are weathered and worn, and their wings are rigid and heavy. They remind me of ancient artifacts, like relics from a lost civilization. Maybe that was her intention, to give new life to forgotten objects.