Folklore of the Teeth

Here is a project that I was working on for my final assignment for advanced ceramics.  Lately I have been finding myself exploring folklore and old stories that I have been finding in old books from my favorite place in the world, Good Cents.  

There was a simple concept behind this piece, and that was to illustrate the cultural beliefs that people hold about teeth, including the power behind them, the practices of curing toothaches, and how one's future can be determined through teeth.  I illustrated text that I pulled from a very interesting book (that has been probably sitting for years in remote storage in the library) entitled Folklore of the Teeth by Leo Kanner, written in 1928.  I was also inspired by a new idea that is trending- teeth tattoos.

L to R: Traveler, Urine/Mother's Milk/Christ's Blood, Tethered, Heimdal, Fish Vesu, 
Cradle Ornamentation, Evil Eye, and Milk Tooth Exchange

Detail of Traveler.

 Each tooth varies in size, from around 2.5" in diameter to 6" in diameter.  They are drawn on with pen and colored pencils, and coated in a thin layer of white wax. 

I am thinking of how to display these in the future... maybe tight little boxes that they can fit snugly in.  I am also researching different types of malleable wax and rubber.

I will probably make some more of these as I can't keep my nose out of this book! What the heck are some of these people thinking?!

Update

I haven't blogged in a while, so I just wanted to condense everything that I have been working into one entry.

These are white earthenware honeycombs that I have been working on in ceramics.  The largest is a little over 16"x12", and there are two smaller ones.  I am very attracted to homes, so I wanted to explore the habitat of an insect.  These are coming out of the kiln today! Hopefully they will be installed in the Art Alley.

This is a side project that I have been working on.  Lately I have been very obsessed with the idea of hair and its links to identity, strength, and weakness, as well that the oddity it becomes when it is detached from a person.  This should be finished this week.  It is a banyan tree that will be draped in long braids.  The drawing is around 5.5'x3'.

These are two projects that I have been doing in printmaking class.  The one at left is a litho print that was created in Photoshop.  It incorporates an old family slide, one of my drawings, collage, and a photograph I took.  The picture at right is my screen print project.  It involves the old and outdated practice of phrenology.  I was experimenting with which traits I actually possess with the traits that I should possess according to the bumps and indentations in my skull.

Finally, these are porcelain molars that are also coming out of the kiln today.  Like hair, these are objects that become strange when apart from a jaw.  I have also created small porcelain nests that I hope to fire in the soda kiln that these babies will sit in.  As for the meaning? I think it has to do with identity again.  I'll get back to you on that when I get some final pictures up.