Jason Borders is an artist in Portland, Oregon. Several years ago, while driving through the desert, he came upon an elk carcass. In an interview two years ago with Kentucky.com, he explains that he loaded it into his car with some degree of risk:
"I loaded most of it in my Honda Civic," Borders says, laughing. "I almost got arrested doing this."
Borders took it back home. Later, he used his Dremel rotary tool to engrave designs in the elk bones. Thus began a major creative avenue for him. Since then, Borders has engraved detailed images into many animal bones, mostly skulls. The patterns are inspired by the henna traditions of India.
In these unique carvings, Borders explores the mysteries of death. He writes:
My belief is that, as painful as it can be, looking directly at death helps you to live your life with intent and purpose. In this light, the work I do delves into a place where the lines between life, death, fantasy and reality are blurred.
Borders doesn't plan the designs. They simply flow out of him intuitively:
I don’t think I would have the patience to finish anything if I did. Im convinced that youll get better results from sticking to a simple approach that incorporates randomization, improvisation, intuition, etc. than thorough planning. Its like Faulkner or early blues music.
-via Hi Fructose