Woolly Mammoth is an extinct creature, with features derived from both mammoth and turtle species. 

Over centuries of the Woolly Mammoth's existence, it developed a semi-sparkling beaded fur that shimmers to protect it from predators. 

The fur is magical and by stroking it, appeases ones senses. 

 

Woolly Mammoth is Anastasia Nysten's personal interpretation of artist Ghassan Zard's Turtle. 

 

Zard woke up from a dream in which an unidentified animal appeared to him. Wanting to make sense of it, he externalised it into a turtle, a hollow semi-transparent sculpture made of resin reflecting Zard’s duality between his extroverted and introverted self. 

The pack of turtles were placed outdoor on his studio's roof, exposed to the elements day and night,  making it a soon to-be extinct creature. 

 

Nysten's conversation with Zard's artwork uses the characteristic of his experience and the basic nature of the animal itself, a semi-sendentary creature by nature because of it carrying it's shelter.

 

Using an obsessive repetition of semi-sparkling beads, it's subtle shimmer entices you to stroke it, an appeasing act of affection. 

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Woolly Mammoth was auctioned in Beirut in November 2018 to raise funds for Oum El Nour rehabilitation and drug prevention centre in Lebanon

oum-el-nour.org