Golden Chicken

I was inspired to make this by the stock image of the golden chicken. Such a strange, unique thing.
Not certain whether it's taxidermy or just a sculpture. My guess is taxidermy..
That makes this part of my Memento Mori project, for it has both alive and dead elements.
Read more about the project here: fav.me/db2brsr

The fact that the butterfly is dead, is a fun twist, as usually the butterfly is meant to depict life in vanitas art. 
Instead, in this piece the orange and the chicken head are the "alive" elements! 

A "golden saint" is a type of guard in my favorite game, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. This artwork is not directly related to that, though! It was just an inspiration  
In art, a saint is usually depicted with an aureola around their head. A sign of holiness. 
And because organized religion is something that is.. well.. not my cup of tea. The use of an orange is my "dadaist" interpretation of holiness.
I did this before, in my artwork "Spring": fav.me/db2bf8l

(Based on Dutch history!) In medieval times, when organized religion was at it's peak, "memento mori" was a loved phrase. The thought that in death, everyone would be equal, brought comfort to a lot of people. A cause for this, was the enormous difference between the rich and the poor. It's also what caused a schism in religion, because Catholics enriched themselves at the expense of poor believers. An example of this is the sales of "indulgence", the church selling a piece of paper that would forgive someone for their sins. The poorest of people would buy these. 

Another type of holy people who get aureola's in art, are martyrs. People who died for their faith. When I was in high school, we went on a trip to Rome for educational purposes. I have seen the most beautiful, golden and marble churches. However, there's blood on those churches, of poor, innocent people.

Seems high school was good for something after all!  

 

Other than it's deeper meaning, I intended for this to be an extremely puzzling surreal work of art. And I think I've achieved to do just that! 
When I added the background, which is a 90 degree rotated sky (I do this more often, starting with "Beetle": fav.me/db2atii), I suddenly felt mildly uneasy for it seemed like suddenly the world was turned.. well.. sideways, and the chicken was suddenly falling. 
Is it just me? Or do you get that feeling too?  

 

This is my Entry for the contest "Butterfly Effect", fav.me/db3f0xx, in the group: 
 
The challenge is to make a surreal work of art with the image of a butterfly! 
I have made plenty of artworks that would suit the theme, but I decided to pick this one as my entry. 

You can view my other surreal manips in my gallery: dinowcookie.deviantart.com/gal…

I'm still not sure about my entry level. Probably I should say intermediate this time. I've improved a lot since I started not too long ago.  

 

Stock used: 

Golden chicken
fav.me/d4fsuqh by
 

Chicken head
fav.me/d30220n by


Butterfly
fav.me/db2f3l2 by


Orange
fav.me/d4f8y03 by


Background
fav.me/db29o7u by