Naturkammern (Cabinets of Natural Wonders) Coral Reef Triptych

During Renaissance and later times, wealthy individuals often collected curiosities such as shells, bones, fossils, preserved animals, archaeological artifacts, and assorted oddities to display in sometimes finely crafted cabinets.  These cabinets were called Wunderkammern   (Cabinets of Wonders) that sometimes grew to occupy entire rooms.  When the cabinets contained only “wonders of nature”, they were called Naturkammern and were the forerunners of today’s natural history museums.

Using the Clay Camera™ technique, I resurrected the Naturkammern concept but avoid the environmental damage and ethical issues caused by collecting actual animals, plants, and minerals.  My first Naturkammer was made from an old spice shelf in which fired and glazed clay impressions of natural objects were inserted after reworking the shelves into compartments. This piece to the right was titled Taxonomic Sampler and contained impressions of fossil and presently living animals and plants.  Later, I acquired several old printer’s type drawers that I rework for naturkammern triptychs.