23 November 2004

From bones to bouquets

Ewan Manson, a student at the University of Dundee is taking the practice of recycling household waste a step further by transforming leftover chicken and fish bones into decorative ornamental flowers. The 21 year old is even taking guidance from the University's forensic anthropologist, Professor Sue Black, to learn some of the techniques Sue uses in her work with bones.

Originally from Eastbourne, the third year fine art student was initially intrigued by the amount of household waste we regularly produce and set about creating something beautiful from fish bones and poultry carcasses that most people discard without a second thought.

Using the bones of the poultry and fish from his weekly supermarket spree, Ewan spends hours sterilising and drying the carcasses before moving on to the intricate work of piecing together the flowers from the vast array of bones. Along with Sue Black, he has developed new ways of treating the bones so that they can be preserved for longer and become visually more attractive.

With 14 fish carcasses needed to create one rose, Ewan has set himself the mammoth task of creating three bouquets of detailed flowers including roses, tulips, daisies and daffodils to complete his third year project. Using sardine and tilapia fish bones, poultry carcasses and even oyster shells it takes hours to create just one flower.

Ewan expands on his work, "After creating the first rose from tilapia and sardine bones I knew that I wanted to take the idea further and create decorative bouquets. It is a challenging project and I am constantly on the look out for oddly shaped bones to create petals and leaves. My shopping bill increases as I need greater quantities of meat and fish but without a doubt it is the most rewarding project I have ever embarked on."

Sue Black said, "I was most interested to hear of Ewan's work and it has been a pleasure to use my knowledge to help him create these beautiful pieces of art from the most unlikely material. Dealing with bones is part of my work and it is remarkable to see them recycled to create aesthetically pleasing objects."

For further information and to arrange interview please contact Press office on 01382 344768

By Angela Durcan, Press Officer 01382 344910, out of hours: 07968298585, a.durcan@dundee.ac.uk