Artist Mentorship: Petah CoyneBirth in FlightAlisha KearnsSculpture IKelly MurrayDecember 15, 2011

Petah Coyne

Sculptor and Photographer

Baroque and morbid, yet beautiful style

Born Catholic

Materials: Taxidermy birds, feathers, flowers, fish bones, sand, bird cages, Madonna statue, hair

Inspired by Catholicism: Everything is not what it is, which seems very Catholic.

Inspired by Birds: Medieval Catholicism, birds transported souls to heaven

Inspired by Women: Inner strength and drive, yet appear soft and fragile.

Inspired by Juxtaposition: Vulnerability/Aggression, Innocence/Seduction, Life/Death

Petah Coyne Sculpture

Petah Coyne Sculpture

Birth in Flight Story

Pregnant nun wanting to kill unborn child

Nun would become bird to transport child to heaven

Because she is committed to God and she has made sinful choices, the child does not go to heaven

Nun and child are transported to a place of Limbo, on the outskirts of Hell

Materials

Chicken fence

Paper mache: flour/water + newspaper strips

Newspaper

Tape

Plaster wrap

Paint

Hot glue gun

Wooden nun sculpture

Two small nun sculptures

Plastic flowers

Heavy body medium

Feathers

Grape vines

Birth in Flight Infrastructure

Chicken Fence base

Glue nun to base

Cover in paper mache and plaster wrap

Paint

Birth in Flight Surface

Glue feathers in layering pattern around nun belly

Paint two small nun sculptures and glue to base

Dip plastic roses in heavy body medium to create peaks and paint

Glue plastic flower petals and roses around base

Paint larger feathers and glue on nun

Glue feathers in layering pattern on nun head

Glue grape vines to base

Process

Process

Process

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