Awareness Post #3

Note: Lupa doesn't always list the titles and dates of her works on her website, so many are unknown

Lupa Greenwolf is a Portland, OR-based artist who primarily creates art using animal remains, such as bones, hides, and horns. She also customizes and transforms vintage models of animals through painting, sculpture, and hairing (covering them in wool or fur). Most of her pieces with animal remains have a functional purpose: examples include costume pieces made of hide, jewelry made of bones, and knives made with bones and antlers. She is inspired by humanity's disconnection with nature in making her pieces, and claims her artwork is "a bridge between us and everything else and an act of reclamation and respect for discarded materials.

This piece is a pair of headphones covered in coyote fur and topped with coyote ears, commissioned by the Bell Museum of Natural History. I think this piece is very cool from a purely aesthetic perspective, but I also appreciate the juxtaposition between the natural (the coyote fur) and the artificial, technology for human use (the headphones). While I do not plan to use any kind of biological material in my artwork, I think this juxtaposition is very interesting and would like to explore it in a future piece

This piece is a wolf skin headdress used as a costume piece in the 2015 film Einar. I find this piece interesting because it shows the symbolism of animals in human culture. The fact that this man is wearing the hide of a large, predatory animal communicates ideas about his character: he is powerful, rugged, and has likely lived among lots of danger. Again, while taxidermy is not my medium of choice, I am inspired to experiment with and possibly subvert animal symbolism in my works.

This piece is a transformation of two model bears into cave bears (Ursus spelaeus). Lupa resculpted the larger bear, adorned its sides with hand-painted replications of cave paintings of these bears, and covered it with merino wool. The smaller bear is not resculpted, but repainted and haired. This is probably my favorite of Lupa's pieces because of the dedication put into displaying these prehistoric creatures that don't exist anymore. I love the juxtaposition of the fur and the cave paintings: they show a closeness with nature I would love to incorporate into my art somehow.