Artist: Grey Cross

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Work of Art: "Hope & Despair

Type of Work: Miniature Sculpture

Listing Price: $110.00 + S/H

Purchase Inquiries: gcsartno@aol.com

Those familiar with my work know that I visit certain themes often. The unique nature of New Orleans cemeteries has captured my heart and creativity since I first started coming to this city in the 1980's. It is not unusual to see me walking the Cities of the Dead in the middle of the night, capturing images and making mental notes of the features and solemn grace of these places. My works have included massive sculptures, surreal print photography and even body paintings photographed within their walls. My work is always done with reverence and respect for those within who allow me to enter and visit their resting places.

 

Over the past months people have been following the creation and evolution of the 6 foot wall sculpture called "Walking in the City of the Dead". This piece is a miniature sculpture representing the unique and amazing diversity of crypts and tombs found here. Much of the work was taken directly from photographic work I've done over the years.

 

Those who have been to the studio to see it live have most often commented that the individual tombs and crypts were works of art all by themselves. It is a fact that each crypt on the sculpture is handmade and takes several days to create before its added to the collective. But because of the vast interest in these tiny structures, I decided to create this prototype as a free standing miniature sculpture.

 

The first in the series "Hope & Despair" is 12"W x 9"D x 6"H. Weighing only a few pounds and rests on a solid fired tile base. It uses live moss rather than plastic plant life with real sand as ground cover. The X's that cover the tomb are taken from voodoo symbols left on some crypts to attest to the power of the individual within. They are most noted for being found on the crypt of Marie LaVeau. The wording around the tomb was carefully chosen and as always represents the complex mystery that is always found in my work.

 

Future pieces in this series will be priced at $125.00 each. But this first and most important prototype will be offered at $110.00 plus shipping and handling. The piece is signed, dated and numbered on the bottom and a signed certificate of authenticity is included.