For Amber Doll > TILIKUM (2011), Hawk Swanson transformed the silicone doll made after her own likeness, Amber Doll, into a replica of the bull orca, Tilikum, who lived in captivity at SeaWorld Orlando until his death in 2017 and was involved in the deaths of three people. Tilikum was originally captured in waters near Berufjörður off the east coast of Iceland in 1983 at two years of age. Hawk Swanson visited a fjord a thirty minute drive from Berufjörður to photograph the waters where his pod still resides.
Tilikum’s underwater viewing tank reopened to SeaWorld visitors two years after Amber Doll > TILIKUM and three years after the death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau. Hawk Swanson photographed Tilikum through his glass enclosure making visible the tattoo of his name she acquired after transforming Amber Doll.
