Icons

Diver (back), found terracotta body, recycled and reused sterling silver. Image: Michelle Bowden.

Diver (detail, front) found terracotta body, recycled and reused sterling silver. Image: Michelle Bowden.

Repaired Arm, found porcelain arm, recycled and reused sterling silver. Image: Michelle Bowden.

Caged Arm, found plastic arm, recycled and reused sterling silver. Image: Michelle Bowden.

Caged Arm (detail, palm), found plastic arm, recycled and reused sterling silver. Image: Michelle Bowden.

Diver, found terracotta body, recycled and reused sterling silver. Image: Michelle Bowden.

Diver (detail, back), found terracotta body, recycled and reused sterling silver. Image: Michelle Bowden.

Repaired Arm (detail, palm), found porcelain arm, recycled and reused sterling silver. Image: Michelle Bowden.

Repaired Arm (detail), found porcelain arm, recycled and reused sterling silver. Image: Michelle Bowden.

Caged Arm (back), found plastic arm, recycled and reused sterling silver. Image: Michelle Bowden.

Caged Arm (detail), found plastic arm, recycled and reused sterling silver. Image: Michelle Bowden.

​The terracotta body of the Diver was found when a heavy concrete laundry sink was moved. There was no trace of the feet or head. I have constructed new ones to give it a new life and narrative. It is now an icon of a diver.    

The porcelain arm was dug up in our back yard. No traces of the rest of the body were found. It is my intention to add value to this limb discarded in landfill.

I don’t usually work with plastic, but when the fragile arm was turned up a by an earthmover, it inspired me to. The constructed cage to hold it and protect is reminiscent of body parts of saints kept in reliquaries, a physical representation of a religious icon.