The elephant trunk is a multipurpose tool. It can smell, grasp, and create sound. When compared to the human ear, the trunk is an orifice full of possibilities. The fictional orifice of these sculptures is a combination of human and animal bodies to suggest similarity across species rather than difference. The presence of ears but no mouth expresses the importance of silence and receptivity in cross-species understanding.

Humans often limit communication to written and spoken words alone. However, non-humans have highly specialized languages that contend with the complexity of our own. Rather than understanding animals as a form of dominance, understanding should be about forming relationships. This pair of sculptures proposes that true interspecies communication will occur through a combination of the senses. 

The Orifice of Interspecies Communication was made in collaboration with Chris Copeland