The Chained Elephant

The Chained Elephant belongs to the Stories series made of three-dimensional mixed-media works on vintage Bohemian crystal trays where personal history, ecological urgency, and the quiet language of objects converge.

At the centre of this piece stands a majestic African elephant, its feet submerged in layers of resin that shift between deep teal and amber earth tones, scattered with flakes of gold leaf. Around its legs, a heavy gold chain loops across the surface. It is presented not as ornament, but as constraint. Three small orange earplugs emerge from the resin nearby: the world choosing not to hear what it cannot face.

The elephant is the largest living land animal. It is also one of the most threatened. It carries memory in its body: of migration routes now fenced, of water sources now dry, of family members lost to poaching. Here, it stands still. Bound. Witnessed.

The vintage Bohemian crystal tray, found in a Prague antique market, connected to the artist's own family lineage, becomes once again a stage. The tray is beautiful. The scene it holds is not.

The Chained Elephant speaks of captivity that does not always look like a cage. Of silence bought with gold. Of a world that profits from what it pretends not to see.