Description

In April, 2025, the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta contacted me to inquire about making a cast in bronze of their Komodo dragon skull currently on display.

After some discussion I agreed to do this, with the provision that I could cast a second copy for myself as my submission to the Alberta Craft Council “Craft Perspectives” call for entry. Craft council members and Alberta residents were invited to create work in response to objects in museums, archive collections, and other historical works in Alberta. Accepted art was to be displayed in the Craft Council public galleries in Edmonton and Calgary in 2025 and 2026.

I had the idea to take the bronze cast dragon skull and use it in conjunction with a bronze dagger piercing the skull. I intended to explore the concept of “Hunting Dinosaurs”.

Unfortunately, the directors of the museum would not allow me to cast a second copy of their Komodo dragon skull. Permission was not granted.

Fortunately, I discovered an academic research institution MorphoSource that on November 1, 2024, released to the public a 3D scanned representation of a Komodo dragon skull. MorphoSource is an online repository of data contributed by museums, researchers, and scholars to share findings, increase impact, and improve access to material critical for scientific discovery and the advancement of human knowledge.

On May 11, 2025, I downloaded the 3D model from MorphoSource as an artist with the stated use to produce a 3D print of the model to create a mould for casting this skull in bronze.

This sculpture has been cast from silicon bronze. The piece was given a liver of sulphur patina with ferric nitrate.

The sculpture is mounted on bloodwood.