EGGMAN STATEMENT
I believe that eggs are events - not simply objects. They are the confluence of primal life-forces, sexual energies, that create new life - new beginnings. The shells are memories of these events.
I have worked on eggshells since I was a child, learning the traditional Ukrainian art of pysanky from my mother. Pysanky are talismen created through batiking designs with specific intentions to use the egg's life-power for a desired result. This cultic use of eggs informs my work to this day - for I consider eggmaking a sacred magical art.
Since 1990 I have used this folk art to explore my fantasies, desires and cosmology. During this period I have manipulated traditional processes with innovative dyeing & brush techniques, etching, and mosaic to forge a new visual language to write on this versatile, organic sphere.
Each egg is a spherical space, a continuously turning pictorial plane around which images distort, challenging common perceptions. As a talismanic event, the egg holds the possibility of recreating the known world. I endeavor to combine all these properties to create a new art, a synthesis of ancient design for a new worldview.
Paul Wirhun
urnell, born and raised in Ohio, has been working as a professional
