Death in a Nutshell

158x17cm + 147x17cm + 138x17cm + 168x17cm

Bronze nuts and wool from endangered Scottish sheep breeds (North Ronaldsay, Boreray, Castlemilk Moorit and Soya)

Alvi Östgård

2026

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This installation was inspired by the Scottish traveling tale "Death in a Nut" that I heard from Scottish-Norwegian storyteller Angela Halvorsen Bogo in 2025. It is a story where a boy traps Death into a hazelnut in fear that Death has come to take his mother. By doing so, the boy accidentally disables anything from dying, creating an ecological crisis and a famine in his village.

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The wool that is pouring out of the four bronze cast hazel nuts belong to four native Scottish sheep breeds; North Ronaldsay, Boreray, Castlemilk Moorit and Soya — all of which are currently critically endangered.​​​

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Images from the exhibition A trimmed tree is no place for song birds at In Vitrio Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, spring 2026. Curated by Ellie Lodge and Preston Taylor.