Arrangement with Sword, Corncobs, and Skull, 1998
4"x5" format, gelatin-silver print, 48.4 x 29.7 cm. Limited edition of fifteen prints, numbered and signed by the artist. (id#646)
This skull was from a raccoon. (See note to previous photo, "Bones Mandala".)
I don't have any human skulls in my "collection" of objects for still life (only the one I still use on occasion). Many years ago, however, I was able to make a charcoal drawing or two of a human skull: a housemate was studying medicine, and he had obtained a skull to help him learn anatomy. He showed it to me, and I held in my hands what I had presumed was a replica, made with just the right shade of pale yellow plastic. But no, the detailing was too good to be a copy, and the thing just didn't feel like plastic. It was the real thing.
Some years before this, in a life drawing class at Columbia University, there was a skeleton positioned on a stand. We were to draw from this instead of from the usual human model. During the break I went up to take a closer look. On one of the ribs there was a sticker with the name and address of a lady in Buffalo. She had made her ultimate donation to Columbia's School of Fine Arts.