Kurlan Naiskos

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Below are images of my interpretation of the Kurlan Naiskos statue. It is a hand-built ceramic statuette, approximately 10 inches across by 8 inches high. It was bisque fired, then I applied several slips for the grays, iron oxide pigments for the rust, and a specialty metallic gold glaze for the armor, and ended up refiring the piece twice to create an antiqued appearance. The 'original' would have been 12,000 years old, after all! This is not meant to be an exact reproduction of the TNG prop, but rather, an extension of the underlying concept. Imagine, perhaps, that another work has been found from another age of the civilization.

You may notice that the larger figure I constructed does not have eyes, ears, or a mouth, unlike the original versions. I reasoned that if the individual consists of many voices within, then perhaps it is only they that are truly aware. Thus, the six small gold figurines have sculpted eyes, but are otherwise only crudely shaped. When inside the container-figure, they rest in a ring, facing a slightly larger gold figurine that is a detailed version of the larger container-figure. This is my representation of the inner voices communicating to the individual. Only within does the individual have the capability to perceive it's world as it is.

Please email comments to me at: pendragon1998@yahoo.com

-Michael Parrish

Click a small image below to open a larger version

INSPIRATION:

The Kurlan Naiskos statue appeared in the ST:TNG episode "The Chase" and was featured in "Unjoined [Worlds of DS9 (Book Two)- Trill]" The Kurlan civilization believed that the individual consisted of a grouping of other individuals which embodied the multitude of different voices and desires that made up the whole. The inhabitants of the planet Kurl created naiskos stautes which embodied this philosophy. The short statues opened at the base to reveal a number of smaller statues within the main body. The small statues represented the voices and the larger statue represented the Whole.

In "The Chase," Captain Picard's old archaeology professor, Dr. Galen, presents the Captain with a complete naiskos - that is, a statue with a complete set of the smaller voice-statuettes within it. A complete find was almost unheard of. Picard's particular naiskos was especially rare, being the work of the Master of Tarquin Hill, a master artist from over 12,000 years ago.

The original version of the naiskos statue was designed by Rick Sternbach and can be seen here:

Someone else found an alternate version of the naiskos on display at Star Trek: The Experience, but I suspect it was created for the TNG episode and not used. Click: (The link may no longer work).

All original content copyright Š 2005 by Michael C. Parrish. This site and any sites it may link to are in no way affiliated with Paramount Pictures. Star Trek Ž, in all its various forms, is a trademark of Paramount Pictures. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective holders.