I've been asking artists who are fascinated with skulls why they are so and what their relationships are with them. On this occassion a Denver artist who goes by the name Fuzzy shares her skull story and some deeply heavy human experiences.
C. What is your relationship and or connection to skulls?
Fuzzy: I think my relationship to skulls is in a broader sense my relationship with death. A skull is an instant symbol, but also a natural one- when we look at a human skull, we know that once there was a face there, behind the face a brain, the skull so easily represents a human in their most basic and pure form. Animal or human, when I look at a skull I see nature, I see inevitability, I see my own future but not in some foreboding way. Rather, that future very simply comes for all of us and is there to remind us to live this one life fully.
C. Can you tell us about your elephant Man piece and why you chose it as a subject?
Fuzzy: With the Elephant Man piece, his (John Merrick) story is so compelling. Here was a man born into a circumstance during a time where no one understood it, and it made him a sideshow freak. Even after being brought in by Dr. Treves, he was still on display, but then for high society rather than carnival attendees. Now, in death he is still on display, his skeleton carefully preserved in a museum. When I painted his skull, I tried to do it with tenderness, using photographs to explore each divot and outgrowth of bone. I wanted to show this skull as a beautiful object, the way I viewed it.
C. On threads you mentioned future plans to have an illustration of a panther skull tattooed. (It's only recently dawned on me to get a skull tattoo as well.) Do you have other tattoos? What's special about this tat you plan on getting? Is there a story?
Fuzzy: I have several tattoos, each with a story or reason (I except the flash on my legs, those are just fun). The drawing I’d done of a panther skull I may or may not still get, as I ended up getting a similar piece on my legs. Basically, the idea was to have this skull with sunflowers on either side, the skull representing me (I think a lot of women do have feline energies), and the sunflowers representing my youngest child who has passed away (it was his favorite flower). What I ended up getting instead was the portrait of a lioness with the sunflower beside her on my calf. I think I leaned away from skull imagery simply because there has been enough death in my close life- first my dad, then the next year my son, and my mom passing away a few years ago. I was present for all three of them, my folks in a hospital from sudden illness and my son at home from suicide. Now, I respect death, I still hold a reverence for the imagery such as skulls, love the art depicting them, but I am trying to lean into whatever life I have left and celebrate it.
You can learn more about Fuzzy, her partner and their creations at frankfacestudio.com
