The Process of the Artwork

Inspiration for the Artwork:

The monarch butterfly cocoon

Using air dry clay, I roll 2 inch balls of clay and mold them into individual cocoons. I form the stem by pinching the clay into a point and making an indentation around the top of the cocoon. I let the cocoons dry on newspaper for a day and a half, then paint and hang.

I lay the molded cocoons on newspaper to dry evenly.

I've painted to cocoons to give each a unique look. In all, I created over 200 cocoons that will be incorporated into the finished piece.

One bunch of cocoons.

I then begin to hang the bunches of cocoons together to create a huddled mass.

The cut string, once containing a solid cocoon will be soon holding a paper chrysalis.

The paper cocoons act as a form of Chrysalis that contains the words of participants that I surveyed for my final thesis.