Guarding the House, detail, brown and white knitted fox head sculpture with map, 13 x 21 x 5 in, © 2022 Eve Jacobs-Carnahan

Why my series of chicken sculptures ends with an unconstrained fox

Mar 28, 2022 | Democracy Art

I once heard artmaking described as a game of chess between the artist and the artwork. The artist makes a move; the artwork makes a move. The first mark on paper, first stitch taken, first shape carved, sets all the rest in motion. With each successive move, the options narrow. Making the last sculpture in my series Making the Voters Chicken has felt like a game of chess.

The first three sculptures in the series illustrate recent legal changes made by state legislatures to frustrate voters. In 2021, nearly twenty states enacted obstacles to in-person and mail-in voting, resulting in long lines at polling stations and ballots rejected for minor discrepancies.

The story of the chickens called for a fox

By the time the fourth box in the series landed on my workbench, the structure was set. Each piece was outlined by a 9 x 11.5 x 3.5-inch box. The primary visual subjects are chickens. The theme is barriers to voting. With these parameters in place, the logical next move was to consider what animals threaten chickens. And there it was: the fox guarding the hen house. The idiom fits perfectly. A creature is responsible for the well-being of others, but instead of protecting them, the fox preys on his charges. Like elected legislators who are supposed to work for the common good of the community, the fox exploits the situation for personal gain. I couldn’t have come up with a better symbol if I had planned it. I named the last work in this series “Guarding the House.”

brown and white fox head knitted sculpture with pins in progress by Eve Jacobs-Carnahan

I dug into the challenge of making a fox sculpture. While I wished to maintain the constraint of the wooden boxes, I could not fit a fox inside the box without making it appear small and weak. But a fox head was nicely proportioned to match the two larger chicken sculptures in the series, and the head alone fit nicely in the box. Studying photos of foxes, I was struck by the rich colors of the bushy tail. How could I show the distinctive fox tail? I considered painting it into the background, but I make three-dimensional fiber work because I revel in the tactile qualities of yarn and felt and fabric.

knitting tail for fox sculpture from variegated brown handspun wool yarn in looped stitch

Knitting tail for fox sculpture in brown and gold fluffy woolen spun yarn in scallop stitch that carries yarn in loops across surface.

The tail needed to extend outside the box.

Creating a ghostly image of state legislature

I placed the rest of the fox’s body behind the state capitol. That is, I have left if for the viewer to imagine the body. To show the fox dominating the state legislature, the head, teeth bared, protrudes from an image of the capitol building. The legislature, the “people’s house,” takes the place of the henhouse in this scene.

My earlier chess moves determined my next steps. I had incorporated road maps from Pennsylvania in two of the sculpture boxes already. For the fox sculpture, I chose a map of Georgia. Election subversion, even more of a threat than voter suppression, seems to be the agenda of the Georgia Legislature. In 2021, Georgia enacted a law allowing the Republican controlled State Election Board to suspend the power of bipartisan or nonpartisan county election boards in overseeing elections. It is explained in this article by Five Thirty Eight.

So as not to conceal the map too much, I tried collaging several light colors of mulberry paper onto scraps of maps. I looked for the right translucent ghostly image of the limestone and marble capitol. The vitality of the fox overpowers the building, as if to say that it will suck life, integrity, and honor from the lawmakers.

mulberry paper cut out of state capitol with ruler and x-acto knife against map of Georgia

On my studio workbench, I cut translucent mulberry paper image of state capitol and laid over the top of a Georgia road map.

Uniting the series with a map backdrop

An idea to unify these four sculptures with a map is percolating in my head. With a map of the United States as a backdrop, I can connect the sculptures to what is happening to American democracy today. It will give context and visually tie the four sculptures together. I have used maps in my artwork before, as I wrote about here.

I have sketched my vision here:

mock-up for Making the Voters Chicken showing wall map and positions of wall sculptures © 2022 Eve Jacobs-Carnahan

By grounding the chickens in the reality of constricted voting rules, I can show how manipulations of the U.S. electoral system are spreading. When I display the work, I will annotate the map with symbols showing which states have enacted restrictions similar to those faced by the chickens.

This fox sculpture is not yet complete. I need a pile of feathers to illustrate the fate of the chickens. I asked a friend who raises chickens if she had any loose feathers. She explained that the birds would not be molting until later in the year. Until then, the lower right side of the box sits empty. In a few months, I’ll gather some feathers and glue them in place. Then we’ll all see what happens when a fox guards the henhouse.

Guarding the House, work in progress, 13 x 21 x 5 inches © 2022 Eve Jacobs-Carnahan

16 Comments

Christine Aaron on April 5, 2022 at 11:33 am

What a vivid and powerful concept and creation. I think your idea of the boxes placement on the US map would strengthen it even further! It has been apinful and horrifying to see what is going on currently…chipping away at our democracy.
- admin on April 6, 2022 at 1:02 pm
  
  Christine, Thank you for reinforcing the idea of a map. I wish it was all theoretical and speculative harm, but it’s not.
Jan on March 29, 2022 at 5:33 pm

I so appreciate the combination of fun and knife-edged commentary in this project. And the fox is gorgeous!
Plus, you got to whack out some pent up feelings about the subject matter, perhaps? I think I will have to find something that needs whacking too…
- admin on March 29, 2022 at 8:06 pm
  
  The thwacking was fun. I think the whole process of translating my feelings into something tangible is cathartic.
Dianne Shullenberger on March 29, 2022 at 12:11 pm

Love the whimsy in your work and the information on the creation. Art has such power. Dianne
- admin on March 29, 2022 at 8:05 pm
  
  I’m trying to find that power, Dianne!
Trudy on March 28, 2022 at 11:16 pm

The fox looks SO real – as are the problems. You continue to amaze me by portraying your insights.
- admin on March 29, 2022 at 10:42 am
  
  I wish the issues were not so dire, but if pointing them out helps, then I’ll keep doing it.
Nicky on March 28, 2022 at 9:09 pm

Such a great idea, or bunch of ideas. Wow. Yeah for political sculpture. Brilliant execution.
- admin on March 29, 2022 at 10:39 am
  
  Thanks for the encouragement, Nicky!
Ilene Levitt on March 28, 2022 at 8:59 pm

Hi Eve,

I love your fox! The metaphor of the fox guarding the hen house perfectly suits the alarming situation in so many states.
- admin on March 29, 2022 at 10:42 am
  
  Finding a metaphor that fit so well was pretty special. It’s not always such a neat fit.
Nicole on March 28, 2022 at 7:50 pm

Loved this!
- admin on March 29, 2022 at 10:41 am
  
  ♥️
Sara Lee Hughes on March 28, 2022 at 5:17 pm

Eve,
This is beyond fantastic! I LOVE your newsletters!!!
- admin on March 29, 2022 at 10:40 am
  
  Thank you reading and cheering me on, Sara Lee!

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