Bird With Golden Collar

A waterbird lifts off at the instant of flight, all upward curve and gathered wing. Its carved wooden base is part of the sculpture. It echoes the bird’s forms the way still water mirrors what rises from it. A natural flaw in the marble opened a crack along the neck. Rather than hide it, the crack was mended with brass in the spirit of kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing breaks with gold. That seam became the golden collar of the title, and with it the piece came to stand for both the bird’s grace and its resilience.