Z's Tease
29.5”x 9”x 9,” fired clay with glaze
Private Collection: Austin, TX

"Z’s Tease" was inspired by the story of Zarafa, a Nubian giraffe that was gifted to the Charles X of France in 1827 by the Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt.  She was walked from Marseilles to Paris, creating a stir in every town she passed through. The first giraffe to be seen in Europe in over three centuries, she captivated the public imagination and caused a tremendous cultural sensation in Paris which included giraffe inspired fashion, hairstyles and decorative objects.  The titillating and provocative edge to "Z's Tease" is also a nod to society's proclivity for and the media's tendency toward sensationalism.