(SOLD)
Dimensions: 8″ tall x 5-1/2″ diameter.
One of a kind, self-balancing egg sculpture made from hand-hammered aluminum with baked-on patina, fastened securely to an internal substructure with ~300 rivets. It’s alive! It can keep its balance due to “shake weights” I put inside…by shaking it gently to adjust the internal weights, you can get it to stand upright by itself on any flat surface, as seen in the photos. The internal weights also help it to stay put so it won’t roll around, and add to its character because of the sound made by the shaking. It would make a great rhythm instrument for a marimba band or similar 😉
This is one of the most challenging art objects I’ve ever made! First I made a full size version in wood, to which I carefully shape each aluminum section to fit the contours of the wooden form (aka buck). Each egg I make is definitely a one of a kind, because I cut the dozen or so sections freehand with no pattern—never the same twice. Ditto for the patina — hand applied and manipulated. I use hardened steel alphabet punches to hand stamp letters into the corners of each section, to help me put all the pieces back together again after the hot patina and burnishing stages…plus they look cool.
Crafted with care to last for many generations — I use heavy gauge (.040) aircraft grade aluminum for the shell.
This egg may not be sentient, but it still seems very much alive — in its motions, in its ability to hold a pose, and the sounds it makes when shaken.
I think it’s pretty safe to say you’ll never find anything else like it! Jewelry for the home. Or take it with you when you rocket to your new home on Mars.
