Material & Craft
The Material
This specimen is an iridescent ammonite fossil identified as Cleoniceras and dating to the Cretaceous Period. Ammonites were extinct marine cephalopods with chambered spiral shells. The retained shell layer contains aragonite arranged in thin structures that produce shifting colors as light interacts with the surface. Darker mineralized areas within the specimen include calcite and pyrite, creating a dense contrast with the reflective outer shell.
The Sculpture
The skull is carved into the solid mineralized body chamber at the open end of the ammonite. Deep eye sockets, a defined nasal opening, cheek contours, and individual teeth transform that portion of the fossil while leaving the coiled spiral visually intact behind it. The skull remains integrated with the shell rather than attached as a separate element. Its darker, sculpted surface anchors the composition, while the preserved iridescent layers draw attention around the spiral.
Form & Meaning
Ammonites preserve the remains of marine animals that lived long before humans appeared, while the carved skull is one of art’s most direct images of individual mortality. Bringing them into a single form sets two measures of time beside one another: the lifespan of a person and the geological duration recorded by a fossil. The spiral does not need to represent a perfect golden ratio to carry meaning; its chambered growth already provides a visible record of biological development and deep time.