Gut – sausage casing / intestine – is a wonderfully versatile material. Used by the Eskimo peoples to make water repellant coats and pants, gut can be used like cordage and like sheets of material.
Most of the gut work that I create is made with pork; sometimes lamb is used for the smaller diameter. The work is both 3-D and 2-D and mostly sculptural.
When stretched as flat pieces, the gut is typically layered to create a sturdy surface. When left whole, the gut dries on itself to create a solid, strong thin string-like material. Due to the nature of the material, the gut is worked fresh and wet. Once dried it can be softened, but it will never return to its initial, supple state.
