Obsidian Flight
"Corvus Ascendant" stands as one of the most mysterious pieces in contemporary sculptural art. The monolithic obsidian structure, displayed inside a pristine glass case, depicts a crow caught in metamorphosis. Its wings, masterfully carved from volcanic glass, reach toward invisible horizons while its base seems to generate its own darkness.
Kessler developed an intense fascination with corvids and dark matter physics, which led him to spend three years working on this piece. He used a single block of obsidian from Iceland's Hrafntinnuhryggur ridge, crafting it into a sculpture that plays with light in extraordinary ways—the bird appears to shift and move depending on the viewer's position.
The laws of physics bend around Corvus Ascendant like light around a black hole. Even after decades of study, we can't explain how Kessler achieved such impossible geometries with traditional sculpting methods.
- Dr. Mariah Nightingale, Quantum Physics Professor
Marcus Sterling, a renown restoration specialist, first noticed something unusual during the sculpture's installation in 1986. The obsidian maintained an inexplicable warmth despite the gallery's controlled temperature. That same night, Sterling dreamed of dark wings beating against an endless void.
The specialist began experiencing frequent episodes of lost time, always finding himself in front of the sculpture. One evening, Sterling stood still for hours while his reflection in the obsidian surface twisted and writhed in ways that defied human anatomy. Glossy feathers began to grow on his left arm, and would have covered his whole body head to toe if not for a visitor who witnessed the transformation and promptly took him to Rebellion's Mistmanor Hospital for Supernatural Occurrences, where his feathered arm had to be amputated to stop further spread.
At the same time, "Corvus Ascendant" changed. The wings shifted position slightly, and later analysis revealed unfathomable depths within the volcanic glass. When Soren Ravensfield acquired "Corvus Ascendant" in 1988, he also uncovered Viktor Kessler's notebooks, filled with complex equations about dimensional portals and theories about merging human and corvid essence. The artist himself had vanished right after unveiling the sculpture, leaving his studio littered with black feathers.
The sculpture continues to draw visitors, with occasional reports of missing time and dreams of flight. None have experienced anything as severe as Sterling's case. The piece remains in permanent display at the Ravensfield Collection, isolated in its own room—other artworks cast peculiar shadows when placed too close to it.
