In Winged Shaman, Poised for Flight, the artist has not imposed this form so much as recognized it.

Carved from a section of whale rostrum, this work makes extraordinary use of the bone’s natural structure. The central seam, where the skull once joined, splits cleanly into two broad planes that open like wings, giving the figure its sense of imminent lift. The flaring sides of what we assume to be the rostrum become wings almost effortlessly, their weight and spread suggesting a body gathered just before takeoff.

At the core, the existing cavities resolve into a symmetrical, breathing centre, recalling lungs or an inner chamber of air and voice. This lends the figure a shamanic charge, as though animation begins from within. Here, even the base participates: the lower edge of the bone breaks naturally into projections that read as feet or talons, grounding the figure while the upper form strains toward flight.