
Quarantine Flounder (Wayne Ferrebee, 2020) Wood, Polymer, Mixed Media
America is still floundering quite a lot…and so am I! To prove it, here is a quarantine flatfish bas relief which I made on commission during the pandemic. The Gothic-style sculpture is carved of wood and the little inhabitants (who are sheltering in place in their elegant town houses and cottages) are crafted of polymer. I also carved the spires with a lathe, however goldsmithing is beyond me, so I ordered the base-metal crown online from a discount crown-dealer (who even knew there were such things?). My favorite part of the work is the poor fish’s anxious expression and worried eyes. In the upper right golden arch a fatuous king stares blearily at his malady-filled kingdom. His vacuous first lady queen is his bookend and stares at him malevolently from the opposite side of the continent fish. Between them is a crypt filled with sad little figures in shrouds, burial wrappings, and body bags. A plague doctor winds his way through the virus-shrouded landscape as a gormless (and mask-less) yokel breaks quarantine near the flounder’s tail.
Above them all, a dark spirit of pestilence wearing costly robes orchestrates events from the sunset heavens. This is the realm of coronavirus now. Let’s get our act together so I can build a beautiful new flounder of radiant health and justice! (Also let’s quickly go back to being a democratic republic: we may be experiencing a medieval type event, but there is no reason to go back to the venereal-disease-ridden mad king model of government).
Oh! Also…if you like my flounder art, go to Instagram and check out an endless ocean of flounder. Now is definitely the time!
5 comments
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July 29, 2020 at 2:23 AM
Isobel Necessary
Oh wow, that’s really extraordinary – when you say commissioned, is it mostly your design or did you make to a specific brief? I think my favourite part is the image of Pestilence, part skeleton, part dark angel, part Russian grandmother. The flounder eyes are great too!
July 30, 2020 at 12:37 PM
Wayne
Thanks a million for your kind words! The commission was for a quarantine flounder–the fun part was construing what that entails (although I don’t see how one can have plague-themed artwork without allegorical skeletons running around).
July 30, 2020 at 12:45 PM
Isobel Necessary
Definitely sounds like fun!
July 29, 2020 at 8:02 AM
Linda Ellis Peck
You are an amazing artist and I am now following you on Instagram!
July 30, 2020 at 12:28 PM
Wayne
Aww that is the kindest thing to say! Thanks so much for the follow. Now I need to get flounderin’ and make some more flatfish art.