All Photos By Gail

While on an Art Safari at The Met this past weekend, we discovered the rare Glass Bambi, which is actually called PixCell-Deer #24, created in 2011 by Japanese artist Kohei Nawa as part of his Heisei period works. Glass Bambi was realized by covering a full sized Taxidermied Deer with variably sized artificial crystal glass beads, called PixCells, a term coined by the artist. PixCell combines the idea of a Pixel — the smallest unit of a digital image — with that of a Cell. Clever.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally on the part of Nawa, PixCell-Deer #24 resonates with a type of religious painting known as a Kasuga Deer Mandala, which features a Deer — the messenger animal of Shinto Deities —   posed similarly, with its head turned to the side, and with a round sacred mirror on its back.

Pixcells, Detail

In Japanese art, the Deer is often depicted as a companion of ancient sages, and has auspicious and poetic associations.

PixCell Deer #24, AKA Glass Bambi is Part of the Permanent Collection of Japanese Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC!

New Photos Were Added to This Post On March 13, 2019!