In a stunning collaboration a call to conservationism has never been more beautiful or more meaningful. The modern surrealist artist Dulk, from Spain, has teamed up with world renown Spanish porcelain masters Lladró. Together they have brought Ephemeral Treasures to life.
This limited edition of porcelain storytelling is a three-dimensional vision of the ecological precipice that many of the spectacular creatures of India find themselves teetering on. Antonio Segura Donat, known artistically as Dulk, doesn’t just create captivating paintings and sculptures, his art reflects his true passion, a love of nature and the masculine need to protect it. On his many explorations with National Geographic, Dulk dives deep into the environment of his muses. In India he got a firsthand look at the dangers tigers face in their homeland, peacocks running out of land, and monkeys losing their homes to deforestation. He felt a deep responsibility to stand up for Mother Nature and along with Lladró, who shares his concerns with their project Art to Protect Our Planet, the journey of bringing Ephemeral Treasures to reality began.
Today, with only 200 of these porcelain sculptures available, the large surrealist figures make an impact. The colors are concurrent with Dulk’s palette, and the vibrant pigments play with a rainbow of beautiful tones, delighting the eyes, while the meaning of the forms resonant throughout the spaces they’re in.
“As a Valencian, I was thrilled from the beginning to have the opportunity to participate in such a project. Besides, I had never worked with porcelain before, and no one works with this material like Lladró.”
-Dulk
Ephemeral Treasures takes its name from the work that has left an indelible mark on Dulk’s career since the New York exhibition of the same title in 2018. While the tiger and the peacock take center stage, the sculpture holds many more characters of nature and metaphors that are slowly unveiled as you look deeper into the piece.
The monkey, known in the forest as a creature who warns the other animals of danger, is ringing a bell. A call to us to notice that we are all in danger. For if nature loses, we all lose. An hourglass is carried on the back of the peacock reminding us that time is running out. The concept is repeated with a burning candle atop the golden cobra’s head. As you look closer you will look deeper into the story. The realization that the tiger is not fully covered by his beautiful striped fur, but pieces of his body are becoming petrified before your eyes is a chilling and heartbreaking visual shock to the reality.
Ephemeral Treasures showcases how spoiled in the richness of nature that we are and how gossamer and dreamlike that richness is slipping through our fingers.
TO EXPLORE MORE VISIT: Lladró and Dulk
- Photo Credits: Lladro; Dulk