"Life's A Dance" (Wire Sculpture) 3Feb2015
As displayed at the Ars Nova Gallery Show. 19-FEB-2015.
Piece Statement: Sometimes art isn't always directly in our face. DaVinci's "Mona Lisa" and Michaelangelo's "David" are simple examples of straightforward art. However, art may sometimes be produced where you least expect it, like lurking in shadow and almost invisible until you see it in a different light.
The task was to create a sculpture from wire with the theme "A Figure In Motion." Sculpture is new to me, but I knew right away that I wanted to do something a little different. I had been studying various artists during Winter Break 2014-2015 and stumbled upon an amazing artist by the name of Teodosio Sectio Aurea from Greece. His extraordinary work with sculpture focuses not on what is seen, but what is unseen until the proper light is cast. The light produces amazing shadow images totally irrelevant to the initial sculpture. This project seemed like the perfect opportunity to investigate shadow.
I did an internet search for images of wire sculpture. I wasn't looking for an idea, but rather to see what else had already been done and avoid it. My initial concept was of an eagle swooping down with it's talons wide open ready to strike, however, there were quite a few of them. Sports figures in action were also common, but I didn't see a single ballerina. As a fan of Edgar Degas, I'd worked with ballerina models before. First on a poster for the English National Ballet (ENB) and later on a temporarily shelved 3D animated short featuring the works of Degas in conjunction with my own animation. I know absolutely nothing about ballet, but greatly appreciate the long hours that go into the art. A ballerina it would be!
This piece went under a number of changes from concept to fruition. My limited abilities with sculpture and wire would quell my ambition rather quickly. I had wanted a second unrelated shadow to appear if a second light were cast from a perpendicular angle. I may revisit that concept as I develop further skills, but at my current level would've taken me another week beyond deadline.
PROCESS
Step One: Search & Recover. Find the original Princess Aurora model I created for ENB. Problem! It was on my old computer which went to the Big Server in the Sky a few years ago. Actually, it went in the dumpster when I couldn't revive the boot drive; but the fact remains that I had to recreate the initial arabesque pose from scratch. So to my 3D program I went. I created an abstract version made of cones that I felt captured not only the essence of the original, but also satisfied the rubric.
Step Two: Decisions! I wanted the piece to not only occupy it's own 3D space, but the 3D space of the display board I had planned on mounting it on. I wanted it to look like an unrecognizable hodge-podge until it was lit to reveal the shadow. I had to decide which sections should be in the forefront and which in the rear. I didn't want connecting pieces next to each other as that might give away their relationship in form. Time to separate!
Step Three: Building the Ark. I'm not a stranger to tools, but I was missing a few so I was off to the hardware store. I picked up some new pliers, a Dremel grinder, and a spool of 16g wire. As I was deciding which grinder to purchase, my eye happened at some soldering irons. Had I gone with my instinct, I would've bought one of those along with some rosin-core to join the wire pieces together. Instead, I thought, "Nah. The hot-glue gun will be fine. What could possibly go wrong?"
Assembling the frame took over twice as long to complete is what went wrong and cones became impossible to create. Triangles would have to be the option. The glue gun was eventually replaced by super glue because when I tried to grind off the excess dried hot-glue, it gummed up the sanding head on the Dremel. The hot-glue also couldn't stand the stress and the frame would come apart every opportunity that it had.
About 9pm two nights before due date, I made a decision to head back to the 24-hr store to pick up a soldering iron, however Murphy & Mother Nature seem to be close associates and the great blizzard of 2015 had other ideas. I forged on ahead with what I had.
--
In reflection, this was a fun and interesting challenge that I will re-investigate in the future since I still have plenty of supplies. Perhaps I will research a second or possibly third form on which to cast shadows. My final display was assembled in class because of transport issues. I know that on the next wire sculpture I create, I will definitely solder it together for strength and durability.
I was inspired by words that my classmates and instructor had to say during the crit. After reading a few that thought it was a person kicking, I realized I forgot to include a single wire that would've changed their perception. An eye-line on the head to demonstrate the model was looking up rather than down. I guess that's the beautiful thing about art. It can be interpreted in so many different ways.
KC
3Feb2015
The task was to create a sculpture from wire with the theme "A Figure In Motion." Sculpture is new to me, but I knew right away that I wanted to do something a little different. I had been studying various artists during Winter Break 2014-2015 and stumbled upon an amazing artist by the name of Teodosio Sectio Aurea from Greece. His extraordinary work with sculpture focuses not on what is seen, but what is unseen until the proper light is cast. The light produces amazing shadow images totally irrelevant to the initial sculpture. This project seemed like the perfect opportunity to investigate shadow.
I did an internet search for images of wire sculpture. I wasn't looking for an idea, but rather to see what else had already been done and avoid it. My initial concept was of an eagle swooping down with it's talons wide open ready to strike, however, there were quite a few of them. Sports figures in action were also common, but I didn't see a single ballerina. As a fan of Edgar Degas, I'd worked with ballerina models before. First on a poster for the English National Ballet (ENB) and later on a temporarily shelved 3D animated short featuring the works of Degas in conjunction with my own animation. I know absolutely nothing about ballet, but greatly appreciate the long hours that go into the art. A ballerina it would be!
This piece went under a number of changes from concept to fruition. My limited abilities with sculpture and wire would quell my ambition rather quickly. I had wanted a second unrelated shadow to appear if a second light were cast from a perpendicular angle. I may revisit that concept as I develop further skills, but at my current level would've taken me another week beyond deadline.
PROCESS
Step One: Search & Recover. Find the original Princess Aurora model I created for ENB. Problem! It was on my old computer which went to the Big Server in the Sky a few years ago. Actually, it went in the dumpster when I couldn't revive the boot drive; but the fact remains that I had to recreate the initial arabesque pose from scratch. So to my 3D program I went. I created an abstract version made of cones that I felt captured not only the essence of the original, but also satisfied the rubric.
Step Two: Decisions! I wanted the piece to not only occupy it's own 3D space, but the 3D space of the display board I had planned on mounting it on. I wanted it to look like an unrecognizable hodge-podge until it was lit to reveal the shadow. I had to decide which sections should be in the forefront and which in the rear. I didn't want connecting pieces next to each other as that might give away their relationship in form. Time to separate!
Step Three: Building the Ark. I'm not a stranger to tools, but I was missing a few so I was off to the hardware store. I picked up some new pliers, a Dremel grinder, and a spool of 16g wire. As I was deciding which grinder to purchase, my eye happened at some soldering irons. Had I gone with my instinct, I would've bought one of those along with some rosin-core to join the wire pieces together. Instead, I thought, "Nah. The hot-glue gun will be fine. What could possibly go wrong?"
Assembling the frame took over twice as long to complete is what went wrong and cones became impossible to create. Triangles would have to be the option. The glue gun was eventually replaced by super glue because when I tried to grind off the excess dried hot-glue, it gummed up the sanding head on the Dremel. The hot-glue also couldn't stand the stress and the frame would come apart every opportunity that it had.
About 9pm two nights before due date, I made a decision to head back to the 24-hr store to pick up a soldering iron, however Murphy & Mother Nature seem to be close associates and the great blizzard of 2015 had other ideas. I forged on ahead with what I had.
--
In reflection, this was a fun and interesting challenge that I will re-investigate in the future since I still have plenty of supplies. Perhaps I will research a second or possibly third form on which to cast shadows. My final display was assembled in class because of transport issues. I know that on the next wire sculpture I create, I will definitely solder it together for strength and durability.
I was inspired by words that my classmates and instructor had to say during the crit. After reading a few that thought it was a person kicking, I realized I forgot to include a single wire that would've changed their perception. An eye-line on the head to demonstrate the model was looking up rather than down. I guess that's the beautiful thing about art. It can be interpreted in so many different ways.
KC
3Feb2015