Rewriting my "artist statement" should not be so labor intensive, and it is undoubtedly overdue for a change. However, I think just for a small break from reforming this daunting yet short paragraph, I had to mention the large eye found on a beach in Florida a few days ago.
I was completely mesmerized by this… its color and size and the mystery surrounding it. The photos depicted someone with gloved hands holding onto it with precious care. It seems to be staring back at the viewer, as if it still has life running through it. Definitely good material for some sort of deep-sea, science fiction story.
The lens looks thick, as if it were made from the finest blue crystal, and the pupil seems bottomless… a black hole that one wishes could playback all that it has seen.
While my imagination went into wild stories of who once housed this magnificent eye, latest news says it probably belonged to some sort of swordfish… certainly of immenset size. The bone around the eye appears to be neatly cut from its head - presumably by a fisherman who haplessly tossed it back into the ocean. Wow… I guess he was not impressed?
Okay, If I were a fishermen and my life consisted of the harsh conditions of sea fishing for many years, I may not be too enthused with keeping such a large eye, but more with the meat of this same fish, and how it, or the money from it, might feed my family for a period of time…. I guess.
Still, I am happier conjuring up some story of deep sea drama… maybe a large, unknown creature who struggled from the jaws of a giant shark, but lost its remarkable eye in the battle, which happily floated to the nearest beach to give us land creatures an extraordinary sense of wonder. I am so there.