Dara Oshin ~ Oracular Shrines

Oracular Shrines is a collection of mixed media sculptures inspired by the mysteries and powers of nature. The sculptures are created with ephemeral elements such as seed pods, branches and organic detritus mounted on golden metal leaf panels with gem-like embellishment not unlike early shrines of Christianity. Images of boiled eggs, broken and leaking their “essence”, create surreal, semi-abstract forms that serve as a focal point.

Borrowing from Byzantine aesthetics, the icon-like sculptures blur the boundaries between religious and secular beliefs. The egg as animistic object becomes the subject replacing the traditional Judeo-Christian religious figures, while the intricately carved wood is replaced with branches and other organic elements in their natural form.  Oracular Shrines, an alternative to our common origin story, suggests that nature itself is a life source and of the realm of the sacred.