Hey there everyone! Hope everyone is having an awesome year so far. I realize I haven't updated this blog in a grip, and because of that I'll be going out of my way to make this blog post extra long and hella informative. The past few months have been crazy, and I'd like to take this as an opportunity to fill you guys in!
Firstly, The reason for my extended absence has to do with the fact that for the last six months, 90% of my time has been devoted to preparing and assembling a body of work for my senior show at Grand Valley. The show, entitled Æther Flock and featuring works by myself and fellow artists Mike Koudelka, Jenny VanderWaa, and Bridgette Willhelmi, premiered this past Monday. The actual reception was just two short days ago, and let me tell you, it was one hell of an experience. The turnout was phenomenal, and it was awesome seeing so many people excited about my work, and the work of my friends.
For those of you who know me personally, or have kept up with my previous blog posts/work, you'll have noticed that around a year ago or so I switched from working two-dimensionally in photoshop, to three-dimensionally in the physical world-- and lemme just say, I am so fucking happy I made the switch. There's something so incredible about actually making something with your hands-- To actually be able to hold in your hand a figure that you've sculpted is just, well, special. The only way I can think of describing it is the difference in looking at a photo of someone you love, and actually being able to hug/hold that person in the real world. There's a sense of presence that comes from experiencing forms in three dimensions that is impossible to grasp in just two. It's like magic, yo. But anyway- enough of that wishy washy artist shit. Let's get on to the art.
The idea behind this show was to portray a sort of strange, Princess Bride/Beauty and the Beast-esque love story told through the cast of anthropomorphic characters I was developing. I've always been really interested in the portrayal of sex, sexuality, and forbidden love through art, and figured that this show would be a great opportunity to see if I could smash some of those themes together and see what happened. The story I tried to convey is structured loosely as follows- The female figure of the piece is the wife/harem girl of king figure. She ends up falling in love with one of the king's servants, and it's their escape from the kingdom that the piece revolves around. Now, I realize that the concept behind this isn't one of some super 'lol3deep5me', Dante's Inferno type shit, but at this point in my artistic career I'm not sure if that bothers me. Everyone needs to start somewhere, and I'm certain that with time and practice, the conceptual side of my work will continue to grow and mature along with my technical skills.
All that aside, I'm incredibly pleased with how this body of work came out. I've started learning SO many skills in the past few months beyond just getting better at sculpting and anatomy. For example, the robe worn by the horse character sitting in the market was hand dyed and sewn, the fox girl's scarf was hand knitted with embroidery floss, the market cart, bridge, stairs, crates and wooden platforms were all hand cut and weathered. The lanterns hanging over the market were hand crafted and feature functional incandescent lights which were wired into a battery pack hidden under the pedestal. The tiny anvil and pickaxe head on the mine cart pedestal were cast out of lead in my backyard, and even the railroad tracks and minecart were made out of thinly hammered sheets of lead! I even spent a few days with my Arduino learning how to wire high power LEDs to potentiometers to be used as tiny adjustable spotlights (although, due to a change of plans they were never actually used in the show). Tallying up all this stuff now has made me realize this was probably one of the most productive years of my life in terms of the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, and it's got me hella fuckin' pumped for the future. Before this show, I was really, REALLY concerned about my place in the world after art school, but I'm starting to realize that maybe everything won't be so bleak once I'm out of school. I mean, I still don't know exactly what I'll be doing, or even what I want to do with my art, but this project has convinced me that I do have potential to be successful if I keep working hard, and keep putting myself out there.
To view the images from the show, click the gallery block below!
And also, before I sign off this blog post, I'd just like to thank each and every person who has ever, in any way encouraged my art making skills. My mom, my dad, my grandparents, my cousins, my aunts and uncles. My professors, classmates and friends. And of course, the many wonderful people I've met on the internet (Gaia, SB, Zukan, and the rest of The Codex forum crew represent!). Thank you so much everyone.
Photo credit, Greg Nemecek and Jordan Ilar