Nokuroka (Entity Effigies Series)

As I previously mentioned, I’m currently working on a new series of small semi/barely-figurative pieces that I’ve been constructing (with as little intervention on my part as possible) from organic found materials. I’m calling this series my Entity Effigies. Rather than being actual sculptures I’m considering them more as contemplation pieces, as inspiration for potential further artworks.

'Nokuroka' (Entity Effigy), 2025, artist Wayne Chisnall

I’ve titled this one ‘Nokuroka’, a bastardisation of the Japanese word ‘Nokurokubi’, a mythical female creature with an ever-elongatable neck, coupled with the ancient Eyptian word ‘Ka’, meaning ‘double’ or ‘vital essence’. I chose to mash these two elements together because, to me, the effigy I’d created looked like it might represent some form of disembodied wandering spirit with amorphous qualities.

'Nokuroka' detail (Entity Effigy), 2025, artist Wayne Chisnall

In Japanese folklore the Nokurokubi is a one of the most distinctive forms of Yokai, a class of supernatural entities or spirits. Usually it is a cursed woman whose neck elongates to impossible lengths while she sleeps, allowing her head to go exploring during the night, often terrifying people as she peers through windows and such like. Tragically, a Nokurokubi is often unaware of what it truly is.

'Nokuroka' 3 views (Entity Effigy), 2025, artist Wayne Chisnall

As for the incorporation of the Egyptian word ‘Ka’ into my entity’s name - that came from another form of disembodied wandering that the sculpture’s ethereal form brought to mind, namely astral projection; the spirit’s supposed ability to disengage from the physical body and travel. Ancient Egyptian teachings present the soul (ba) as having the ability to hover outside the physical body via the ka, or subtle body.

 

'Nokuroka' (Entity Effigy), 2025, artist Wayne Chisnall

One of the many things I love about art, and possibly sculpture in particular, is that artworks are often inspired or triggered by a multitude of seemingly unconnected or opposing ideas. There can be multiple readings of a work and ultimately, the viewer’s readings are just as valid as the artist’s, for the artist isn’t always fully aware of what they are creating until partway through the process or even after the act of creation.