John Cowan, uniquely interesting, talented, and violent, retained me a few years ago to represent him in connection to a an incident where he was charged with stabbing the shit out of Junior Murray. The sharp interplay between the crime and the carving came to me later. These photos don't do the carving justice. John carved this thing out of a single block of wood. Cherry, I think. Very dense. The head has been meticulously hollowed out such that the brain tissue is free standing and can be viewed into its depth, which extends inward into the concavity of the braincase. The mouth is likewise hollowed with each tooth crafted brilliantly, deep inside the oral cavity. Same for the ears and nasalwork. Each hair is separated by miniscule grooves atop the scalp. The eyes: they play wonderful tricks based upon the angle and luminage of the light source. I'm told that John, who died recently, enjoyed an eightball of cocaine from time to time and that it fuelled what must have been hours-long carving parties of one, into the small hours of countless nights in his house, where he lived alone and where he would die alone. I hope that he listened to quality music during the creation. The carving. It as a gift to me after he was acquitted by a jury of his peers, though he was so unique that I suspect that he had no peers in real time. Peace, John Cowan.
The poem comes to mind: "Anon to sudden silence won, In fancy they pursue, The dream-child moving through a land, of wonders wild and new, In friendly chat with bird or beast -- and half believe it true." Lewis Carroll.
NPR did a piece called "This I Believe" a few years back. Listeners were invited to recite their core beliefs about anything...
