These commissioned panels were forged in the technique of Eastern repoussé and wrapped around wood and aluminum frames to create sliding pocket doors to cover the media screen in the lounge of a bespoke, 69 meter superyacht.
I hammered the panels from 4 sheets of copper that I riveted together to form the 2 pocket doors. At the client’s request, I rendered the design in multiple circular textures and strategically drilled holes to allow light to come through. The relief tapers so that the design fades at the outside edges of the doors. Lacquer protects the patinated doors’ finish.
I began the project in late 2015 hammering a 12 x 12 in. sample of one turtle’s head. Due to delays in the shipyard’s sending the frames, I created these doors between early March, 2017 and shipped them in late August of the same year.
My studio assistants were Uduak Ita, Deanna Pastel, Chris Balch husband, and Skyler Hassan son. As we outgrew the limited space in my studio, we took over my screened in porch and eventually the deck.
At this time the client has not released images of the turtles installed on the superyacht.