We certainly have a fascination with the macabre here at ViralNova. Luckily for us, many artists are drawn to the dark side as well — and they always manage to make something hauntingly beautiful out of it.
One such artist is Caitlin McCormack. Among her other work, McCormack crafts intricate and unsettlingly lifelike skeletons using crocheted thread. The thread is then hardened with glue so that it can hold a position. Her works resemble model skeletons and scientific specimens of old, but their fraying ends and floating tendrils make them ghostly and ethereal.
World Before the World II
The skeletons, all created using white and off-white threads, are displayed pinned against black backgrounds or under glass specimen jars. Her pieces range from partial to complete skeletons, and even to entire skeleton “families.” Her skeletons take on the forms of small, delicate animals such as birds, bats, and rodents.
Aeturnum
Bound, As It Were
Here, McCormack pays homage to traditional crocheting by including a dainty glove whose threads are slowly unraveling to create the bird skeleton. This also gives the piece a darker edge and speaks to decay and transformation.
To help the threads maintain their shape and in some cases stand upright, McCormack coats each strand of thread with glue. Not only does this give her creations form, but it also gives them a texture similar to actual bones.
Lacewilds
Crawlspace
McCormack’s work has been on display in various places, and can currently be seen at the Museum of Morbid Anatomy in Brooklyn. You can also see the rest of her crocheted skeletons, along with her other bodies of work, on her website. Be sure to check out her online shop, as well. You can also keep up with her latest projects on Instagram and Twitter.
McCormack’s work will be shown around the country over the next year, at Paradigm in Philadelphia in October, Antler Gallery in Portland, Oregon, in March 2016, and in La Luz de Jesus in Los Angeles during the summer of 2016.
