“Mother and Child” (2020), cast glass, ceramic, and oil paints, 18 x 27 x 7 inches. All images © Christina Bothwell, shared with permission
“I have always viewed the body as a transitory object,” writes artist Christina Bothwell. From human-animal hybrids to pregnant creatures to figures fused together, Bothwell’s oeuvre suspends various life forms in states of flux: a baby precariously rests on a mother’s back, a young girl grasps onto another’s legs, and others peer into the distance as if they’re about to move forward.
The artist’s subject matter is rooted in the ethereal and embodies the delicate ways spirits and physical figures change over time. Her process, however, mirrors that focus on transformation. From her studio in rural Pennsylvania, Bothwell begins each multi-media piece with a sketch before translating the head into a clay form. To create the weathered appearance, she utilizes pit firing, which involves covering the sculpture with hay or leaves and burning them. The smoke from the fire leaves behind a carbon residue on the clay.
When working with glass, Bothwell sculpts warm beeswax that she uses to cast a plaster-and-silica mold. She then fills the empty shape with chunks of colored glass, which are placed in a kiln for annealing, cooled in cold water, and finally sanded and chiseled down. Hand-painted details adorn the sculpture’s exterior, along with found objects like antique prosthetic eyes, deer antlers, and ball feet.
“Soul Sentinel” (2017), cast glass, ceramic, oil paint, and antique wood doll puppet hands, 21 inches
The result of this months-long technique is a surreal collection that merges the organic forms and processes of nature with uncanny details. Each lusterless piece explores the relationship between the alluring oddities of the exterior and the translucent insides, which Bothwell explains:
Changing the body is merely adjusting the outer wrapping, as far as I can see… I am intrigued with the spirit world, and I imagine that we pass in and out of it, into the physical realm with bodies, then out of it at the end of life into lighter, energy bodies… And along the way throughout our lives, we transform ourselves constantly, reinventing who we are on a daily basis.
Bothwell will be featured in an upcoming episode of PBS’s Craft in America airing on December 11. Until then, follow her unearthly projects on Instagram. (via This Isn’t Happiness)
“Octopus Girl,” cast glass and ceramic, 33 inches
“Pink Monkey” (2020), cast glass and ceramic, 15 inches
“Butterfly Poodle” (2015-2019), cast glass, ceramic, oil paint, and antique claw ball feet
Left: “Strawberry Gardens” (2020), cast glass, ceramic, and oil paint, 22 inches
Top right: “Deer Bunny,” cast glass, ceramic, oil paint, and deer antlers, 27 inches. Bottom left: “My Second Self” (2013), cast glass, ceramic, and found objects (antique doll hands). Bottom right: “Mermaid” (2009), cast glass and antique prosthetic glass eye
“Such Reveries” (2017), cast glass, ceramic, and antique claw ball feet, 22 inches