The triptych approaches the sheep as an animal, a material, a flock, and a sacrificial figure. The dramaturgy is built through a movement from the mass of the flock to a specific animal and its fate.
Left: the herd as a single, living canvas Center: a mountain idyll, a pasture space near the shepherd Zaza’s house Right: a ritualistic scene where the ram walks willingly to slaughter
The central panel and the elements of the flaps are made from the wool of the shepherd Zaza’s flock, who lives in the mountains at an altitude of 2,103.37 meters.
The coarse sheep’s wool, with its curls, retains the feeling of the animal’s immediate presence and its natural texture.
If I want to ask God for something—for the health of loved ones, for family—I slaughter a ram, and then I give the meat to the poor. And the ram itself goes to church without resistance.
