Sculpted by Michael de Forest (Portland, OR) in the summer of 2018 for a joint exhibition at the Waterstone Gallery with Kristy Kún. de Forest focused on this single work for the exhibition. To create the work, the "rubbing" position that Kun's hands form for felting fins on textural relief artworks was studied and staged for 3d imaging. He construct full size models in clay from these scans, then digitally produced sliced enlargements at 4x scale to create patterns for the wood, which was cut, glued, sculpted, carved, and painted.
The water motif on the top of the hand calls to the title of the show, Hands In Water, and references the many hours Kún's hands spend in water during the process of felt making. Western Swallowtail is featured as spirit animal.
It was an immense honor to have this sculpture of my hands at the center of the show of my work at the Waterstone that year. ... had I only been able to bring them home for my personal collection! I will keep an eye on the secondary market. -Kristy
Process photos: Michael de Forest
Artwork photos: Dan Kvitka