Good Bones
2019, Commissioned by the Aquarium of the Bay
Acrylic paint on fiberglass
4’ X 6’ X 7’
Good Bones refers to the deep geology of California, starting with melted snowfall in the Sierras that rushes then trickles then gurgles its way down through rivers through the Delta to the Bay, picking up minerals and micronutrients unique to the terroir along the way. These make their way through the food chain and up into the apex predators - the sea lions - and form their basic architecture - the bones. The mottled sea foam green background of the sea lion refers to the colors of the roaring rushing rivers in spring in the Sierras, the lazy languid summer Delta and the color of the turbid bay water during a storm. The sea lion stands on a piece of Franciscan chert that forms the bedrock of the Bay.
