Shanell Papp: The artist who created a life-sized skeleton in crochet.
2 min read
A life-size skeleton, complete with organs that faithfully reproduce the original ones. If you thought you saw (and realized) everything, you are wrong!
The creation, somewhat bizarre, is made by a real crochet artist, Shanell Papp, author of many other works, from masks to pools of blood, but his skeleton is certainly one of those that has aroused more stir.
In 2005 she created a whole crocheted cadaver, creating bones and woolen organs to fill the full-size skeleton. Nothing is missing: a soft crocheted heart, ten hollow phalanges, lungs, liver, small and large intestine, all made with different colors and as similar as possible to the original organs. Very detailed also the bones of the skeleton, perfectly proportioned.
After working for four months on the skeleton, and four months on the organs, the final work was displayed on an actual mortuary gurney.
The woman who lives and works in Alberta, Canada has learned to use as self-taught crochet when she had only 9 years old.
Shannell created the skeleton for a university research project on tissues, anatomy and art, called BAWDY.
“I made the skeleton, in order to explore my body while I was an art student at the university of lethbridge”, she explains.
“before making this work I had a keen interests in medical history, frankenstein, enlightenment thinking, the victorian period, the birth of industry (textile production), crime investigation, mortuary practices and museums….I made the work to explore my interest in the human body.”
Certainly not the usual scarf or the centerpiece!
