Since March 16th is National Panda Day I couldn't resist pulling this one out of the archives. Enjoy ~
TITLE: Panda-Squirrel (Sciurus melanoleuca)
MATERIALS: Tanned squirrel hides over an armature made of clay, paper mache, wire, and carved high-density urethane foam
©2012 Sarina Brewer. Sculptural concept registered with the United States Copyright Office and protected under federal registration certificates VA-1-929-958 and VAu-1-162-922.
Private collection of Mark G. Parker, former CEO of NIKE inc.
A little background on this piece ~ I’ve worked exclusively with humanely sourced animals for the entirety of my career because the philosophical foundation of my work dictates no animal should die for the sake of art. Many of my sculptures were once roadkill, including this one. This particular piece was constructed out of 3 individual animals – one albino (white) squirrel and 2 melanistic (black) squirrels. All of the squirrels were severely damaged so I salvaged what good parts remained on each one of them then sewed pieces together to create a singular animal. The concept for the piece was inspired by my love of urban vinyl toys and a “WANTED” poster I saw in the back of a pet magazine in high school that was offering a $10,000 reward to the first person who could breed a hamster with panda markings.
(Fun fact: The pet industry has since developed what is marketed as a “panda hamster”, however, the only thing it has in common with a real panda’s markings is that both are black and white. Instead, panda hamsters have markings more similar to the hooded rat, another black and white breed of domesticated rodent)
More of my art at WWW.SARINA-BREWER.COM