Title: Untitled
Medium: Mixed Media Sculpture Size: 81cm x 53cm x 73 cm Completed: December 4th, 2018 Exhibition Text:
The world we live in today is completely different than what it used to be. We used to live in a green and warm wold, and now we live in a Silver and Cold Mechanical Wasteland in comparison. If humans were to vanish, nature would take back what it lost with no repercussions. My piece represents that. It was inspired by the works of Sal Vallino and Adam Long. |
| Critical Investigation |
This piece was inspired by the affect nature has on humans and humans on nature. It is theorized that if humans were to suddenly disappear off the face of the planet, that within a year nature could take back the planet and return it back to green. This inspired me to try and find mixed media sculptural artists who would use organics or give man-made materials a "organic" form. One that I found interesting was an artist named Sal Villano. One of his more extensive libraries is a set of wire trees, almost resembling Bonsai trees. Another Artist I had found interesting was Adam Long, and his piece "It's Not Nice To Fool Mother Nature" specifically. In it, a tree woman is screaming, and the piece is almost delicate in structure. I wanted to pull more physical aspects from these pieces. So the wood, Tree, and wire aspects were what stood out the most, as well as the notion of femininity (via the torso and legs in the final product.)
| Inspiration |
Adam Long's Artwork that I looked into was mainly mixed media sculpture, and mainly had these wooden and organic materials as the primary material. What inspired me the most about his work is how he was able to capture the form like this in wood and make it smooth and clear. I mainly took the material aspects, however, I did notice throughout many of his pieces he focused on the feminine form. This corresponds to my theme of the feminine body and inspired me to rip apart barbie dolls and add them to the artwork.
What I find most interesting is how smooth the figure blends into the rest of itself; with no clear lines or indication of glue, meaning it was really carved from one branch, or a subtractive piece. Although I did not make a subtractive sculpture, It is still moving to see how smooth the piece is and how constant it is throughout. I also was inspired, as previously mentioned, by the human body aspect. A theme I like to present is feminism in correlation to the view of the physical human body, and I found myself attracted heavily to the strange and almost other-worldly anatomy of "mother nature" in this piece, or other women in his other works. It is fascinating to see and study. |
Sal Villano mainly works and prides himself in mixed media sculpture, mainly this series of Bonsai-like wire trees, Which he makes and sells on his website. What I was inspired by the most - besides material - was how close-knit the wire was in the coils of the trunk of the tree. I admire the craftsmanship that went into the meticulous wrapping and coiling of the wire around the tree.
|
| Planning Sketches |
My Planning sketches were Mainly inspired by the physical materials by the inspiration of Sal Villano and Adam Long, i.e. The wood branches and wire coil. I wanted to use materials we interacted with on the daily basis, like bottles, old toys, cardboard, ect.
Originally, I was considering bringing creatures from Japanese folklore called Kodama into the piece, however I eventually decided against it, feeling like the piece would be too busy if had added them in. |
| Process |
|
1.) I started out by taking the bottle and punching a hole in the cap with a knife. Once it was punctured I wove wire through the cap to secure a starting point.
2.) I used spare spools of wire and started to wrap the bottle with it to get a texture layer, and now and again using scissors or a knife to cut holes to hot glue branches into the bottle. 3.) After this, I hot Glued Wax Paper to the bottom of the bottle to get another layer to contrast the darker colors and to add more textures. 4.) I took more wire and wrapped the paper again, to keep the form of the bottle and to get more textures from the wire. While I did this, I hot glued the base to cardboard to get a solid and balanced surface. 5.) I ripped apart Barbie and Ken dolls and hot glued them around the piece, acting as counterbalances to fix the structure durability. |
| Experimentation |I experimented with Cutting up green rags and placing them on the branches (On the right) to act as leaves. However, I decided against it because I felt it was too distracting and caused it to lose a lot of interest to the eye.
I also experimented with the placement of the Barbie heads, trying to tie them around the branches by their hair and whatnot. However, I scrapped that Idea purely because I found that the branches were far too brittle to hold the weight like that. |
| Meaning |
The world we live in today is completely different than what it used to be. We used to live in a green and warm wold, and now we live in a Silver and Cold Mechanical Wasteland in comparison. If humans were to vanish, nature would take back what it lost with no repercussions. However, if the scenario were to reverse, Humans would have no chance at survival.
| Reflection |
My main goal and theme of This Piece (Untitled) was to make the audience understand the issues of the relationship between us and nature. Because of that goal, I pushed to make my project as full of symbolism as it could be, with ideals and physical materials I used. Because of that, I think this project would be a success. While creating it I noticed many weaknesses as much as I did strengths. For example, Wrapping the wire and getting structural balance was fairly simple to do overall. Another strength was placement of both branches and body parts, it was fairly simple because I had patience and a keen eye for where and how I wanted things placed. There were also some complex or tougher things in the project such as getting the Branches just right in placement and rotation. The must frustrating thing was probably cutting the branches down to get a good size (I had even accidentally cut my finger badly while trying to cut a branch). But, I, overall feel that this project turned out better and exactly as I had hoped. I feel like I need to really get more comfortable with wire and other mediums, because I feel like this process could have been done much faster if I had a better grip on how to use the materials at hand.
| ACT Questions |
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your art work?
My inspirations have affected my artwork by having a more physical impact on my work, with materials and structural concepts.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author ( from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors really went in depth about the history of the artworks rather than the meaning of the works. With the author for Picasso for example, they focused a lot of the physical aspects and history of the works.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered that many people - especially in the past - really focused on the physical attributes of a human, rather the internal attributes of them.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Mainly my theme was social issues and constructs. Not only because of Sherman's Feminism but Picasso's peace advocacy in his life as well. Truly artists with strong world views seem to inspire me.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Life is amazing in the way and concepts of nature; where if humans were to suddenly die off, nature and greens could easily bounce back, whilst humans can't do the same if the roles were to reverse.
My inspirations have affected my artwork by having a more physical impact on my work, with materials and structural concepts.
2. What is the overall approach (point of view) the author ( from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors really went in depth about the history of the artworks rather than the meaning of the works. With the author for Picasso for example, they focused a lot of the physical aspects and history of the works.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered that many people - especially in the past - really focused on the physical attributes of a human, rather the internal attributes of them.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Mainly my theme was social issues and constructs. Not only because of Sherman's Feminism but Picasso's peace advocacy in his life as well. Truly artists with strong world views seem to inspire me.
5. What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
Life is amazing in the way and concepts of nature; where if humans were to suddenly die off, nature and greens could easily bounce back, whilst humans can't do the same if the roles were to reverse.
| Citations |
“Adam Long - Artwork for Sale - Saint Charles, MO - United States.” Fine Art America, Fine Art America, fineartamerica.com/profiles/adam-long.html?tab=artwork.
“Sal Silvano Wire Tree Sculpture.” Sal Villano Wire Tree Sculpture Art Gallery - Sal Villano Wire Tree Sculpture Artworks, ArtsCad, 21 Feb. 2011, artscad.com/@/SalVillanoWireTreeSculpture.
“Sal Silvano Wire Tree Sculpture.” Sal Villano Wire Tree Sculpture Art Gallery - Sal Villano Wire Tree Sculpture Artworks, ArtsCad, 21 Feb. 2011, artscad.com/@/SalVillanoWireTreeSculpture.