Alas, poor experiment!
Constructed from strips of lace, both hand and machine made, this piece deals with the fragility of ourselves. I originally made this piece for a crafts residency – meaning it only as a fun experiment to pad my portfolio. But once I started showing it off, people were very impressed!
The lace strips were constucted around a plastic skull mould and then sewn together according to the shapes beneath. After construction of the strips and doily the teeth were formed with both needle lace and crocheted scallops. The piece was then starched with dilluted wood glue in several coatings. This was allowed to cure while sitting on the mould, giving the piece its firm but fragile shape.
I posted Skör on social media, and got a modest but positive reception. Then I made a post about it on Tumblr.com (https://www.tumblr.com/mesterspets/731240735019499520/new-piece-am-calling-her-sk%C3%B6r-fragile-in) where it reached some very unexpected notoriety. It was picked up by an editor for the online contemporary art publication Colossal, who wrote a story about Skör (and me). You can read it at https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/01/ester-magnusson-skor/. This boosted the spread of my post even further, and I was contacted by a US based collector who bought the piece off of me.
I sent her off across the ocean for adventures unknown. So, here’s a toast to trusting the process!
