Svenghouli Soy Bean is a self-based sculpture, third of 3 in a series. It is purposely created ugly, hard, mutated to inspire repugnance. It has a metal futuristic worm that has somehow made its way through the sprout. The base is created from the same Indiana Limestone, but has been left raw - to depict dry, desiccated soil. My submissions to the Pretty Ugly show comprise three conceptualized Frankenfood sprouts sculpted from a single piece of Indiana Limestone. The term Frankenfood was coined by Paul Lewis, in a 1992 NYT op ed. The sculptures express a distaste for agriculture production using bioengineered seed that circumscribes the growth and protection of natural organic food. Genetically modified, mutated or gene edited food crops will apparently soon be the norm, i.e., currently representative of 60% of Canada’s (90% in USA) soy production. I have intentionally created germinating sprouts that are unappealing; monster-sized, resistant and presumably growing from desiccated earth, in contrast to the perfect form, intense flavour, and promise inherent in a natural green seed germinating. The mutant seeds are portrayed as ugly substitutes, as their effect on mankind is not yet understood, particularly where transgenic (animal) genes are engineered into a host organism. Pretty Ugly - the dark side of nature’s simplicity and beauty.

Indiana Limestone sculpted primarily with hand chisels, rasps and rifflers.