The work: Butcher Boys (1985/1986)
What is it exactly?
The sculpture is made up of three oil-painted plaster figures whose bodies mostly resemble the human male body, but whose heads are part animal. The three are seated next to each other on a bench, each seemingly staring out in a different direction. Their scarred bodies look human, but their mutated heads seem to be sprouting horns. Their eyes are black, and on two of the figures there are holes where their ears should be. The third head has horns sprouting out where the ears should be. On all three, their noses are deformed and they don’t seem to have mouths. It is as though their mouths have been smashed in or sliced off along with a part of their nose.