Soft Sculptures

I am trying to exemplify Claes Oldenburg's soft sculptures. I am using newspaper for the structure and covering it with plaster strips, painting it with gesso and then using acrylic paints. I am making a domino, a jack with a ball, and a puzzle pieces; all objects that are normally small in size and increasing their scale.

Bernini

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Italian, 1598–1680)
Model for the Fountain of the Moor, 1653
Terracotta, 31 3/4 x 16 3/4 x 16 1/2 in.
(80.5 x 42.5 x 41.9 cm)
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth

This picture is Bernini's model for the Moor that is apart of his fountain that stands at the southern end of the Piazza Navona.  It's his largest clay model and it depicts the god of the seas taming a dolphin while riding a large conch.  I really love how he differentiated the shell, the scales of the dolphin and the muscular taut skin.  The detail to the gods face if incredible, its bold and commanding of attention.  The model was highly finished and was the final piece presented to the Pope to receive his approval.  The exotic features of the sea god is why they named him the Moor and that also became the name of the fountain itself. 

phantasma Kris kuksi

Abstract Bas Relief

I have changed my project quite a few times. I am not working on an abstract piece of bas relief including the movement of water, similar to what is seen above. I, however did not include the actual object that is causing the movement of the water, it is just the shape and look of the water alone. 

Peter Voulkos

Bull in a China Shop

Untitled 

Peter Voulkos 1924–2002, American artist from Greek Decent. He was consider an abstract expressionist due to his surreal and spontaneous relationship in creating ceramic plates. Voulkos’s hefty clay sculptures smashed the boundaries and constraints of utilitarian ceramics with three categories of work: “ice buckets,” “plates,” and “stacks.” His work relates to my dinner set that I am making out of clay. The imperfections makes his pieces and mine perfect.  

Arneson

This is another piece by Arneson that he puts a body part on an object. Again he uses a penis but places it on the spout of a teacpot. All his ideas are out there and somewhat raunchy but this is what he was known for. I really like emulating this particular style

Cornucopia - Damien Hirst

I have always enjoyed the idea of mini sculptures. I enjoyed these mini skulls because they related to my series in a sense, but they also remind me of little marbleized colored glass marbles. I like how each one of them is unique. I am curious to look into more of this "Neo-pop-art" which was the style used to sculpt this series. I also wonder how he made each form identical but color different.

Eddie Dominguez -

Very different from any of Dominguez's other works, “El Hombre de Clavos (The Nail Man),” 15 in. (38 cm) in height, is handbuilt earthenware with nails.

America

This is a very small scaled sample of what my finished product will look like. I used a lot of tires in my sculpture, as well as some antiques and some rusted "junk" that proved to be a challenge during the assembly process.

Hey look a centaur

The support in the middle was probably a good idea since the front legs are so thin. Too late now.

Ikebana

These pieces are from Dale Chihuly's Ikebana collection. He was inspired by organic and floral elements. They are both so delicate looking, and have so much movement. It's hard to imagine them being made out of glass. He enrolled in courses on glasswork after graduating from the University of Washington.

Beer Can House

I chose to model my project off of this house in Houston, TX.  The walls are held up by one structure but made out of flatten beer can strips.  Because of the scale of my project I will only be making two rooms, a dining room and a kitchen, however I will also be making a car to go outside of it and furniture. 

Some more wire figures!!

I would like to add more detail to my wire figures. Currently they are very simple, but Calder's have much more detail and I would like to have mine at least have a little but more detail to them as well.

Nevelson and modrain

These two piece resemble my final project. The sculpture of nevelson represents the same structure that my sculpture will have (the box like form ). The Modrain painting shows the simplicity  of my project that I will paint it. Each pair of boxes will be painted red, white, blue and yellow and then painting the outer edges black like it is in the painting. 

Soft sculpture Cona

I chose a soft sculpture installation because our final projects are installations. This artist was featured in a gallery in Australia. My piece is the coming together of three soft sculptures to represent myself.

I chose to blog about the sculpture piece I found online. It sort of represents my final piece because I sculpted a street sign also. I'm not too sure what the artist was getting at when creating this piece since I couldn't find any description, however, in my eyes I think it represents how as people we go in all directions in our lives. This kind of reflects my four pieces I created bc they all represent my journey and even after graduation I will still be going in all different types of directions in my life.

Kiki Smith Sculpture

I chose this Kiki Smith sculpture because it was very different. I like how she incorporated the head of a human with the torso of a bird. It's very different. and not something that one is used to seeing in art, yet it seems to have a sense of humor and works in this sense. I like how there are also multiple birds and in different sizes.

kiki smith Mary Magdelene

This piece is called Mary Magdalene (1994). This sculpture made of silicon bronze and forged steel. Smith is a non traditional female nude sculptor. he figure is without skin everywhere but her face, breasts and the area surrounding her navel. She wears a chain around her ankle; her face is relatively undetailed and is turned upwards. Smith has said that when making Mary Magdalene she was inspired by depictions of Mary Magdalene in Southern German sculpture, where she was depicted as a "wild woman".  

Kiki Smith: Daisy Chain

Kiki Smith: Daisy Chain 

Kiki Smith, is German-Born American artist. Her inspiration deals with birth and regeneration. “It’s what preoccupies you. It takes a long time and it changes, but you follow what is interesting and you just sort of find what works.” Her idea of art is very different from what I known, it brings different ways to looking abstract inspiration. 

My Blue Lake

I chose My Blue Lake, because I was feeling some type of way about this husky fella that is the center of this picture.  This is picture was painted in 1995.  I like the way the blues and yellows mesh to give the creature in the center a more full feel.

Kiki Smith

I thought this was a great piece because it may not actually mean women breaking free but that's how I took it.  It was interesting seeing how she made the sculpture with such simplicity, but also so much detail at the same time.

Artist:

Kiki Smith

 (American, born 1954)

Title:

Blue Moon II, 

2011

Size Notes:

1 Moon (94 x 94 x 6,4 cm) ; 9 stars (appro. 13,7 cm diam.)

I really enjoy this piece's calming effects. I also enjoy the mixed blues. The stars really help bring the pieces together.

Kiki Smith- "King Kong" I chs

King Kong
2002
Bronze
Kiki Smith
20 x 21 x 8 (in)
Im not a big fan of her style of sculpting; however, I chose the King Kong piece because I can appreciate the detail to expression of the two characters.  I also liked this piece the most out of any other sculptures of hers.  Its pretty in the sense that you can see King Kong finally embracing the woman he falls in love with and its shown very nicely with how she positioned them.  A classic movie depicted but in her own style which I commend.

Kiki Smith

Kiki Smith was born in Germany, and grew up in Jersey. Her father was an American Sculptor named Tony Smith. This was the least disturbing sculpture I could find of Kiki Smith's. The majority of her work is very dark and morbid, and I don't particularly like it. Most of her work incorporated figures, animals, and nature in some combination with one another.

Kiki smith

I like the human heads on the birds in this piece. It is weird and appreciable. 

Kiki Snith

daisy chain by Kiki smith. I thought this was really interesting because it has the chain as abdomen instead of around the wrists or snkles. I love the concept of the sculptire and the various meanings that can be drawn from it.

Lilith by Kiki Smith

According to the stories Lilith declares her equality with Adam and refuses to be submissive to him (it actually states that she refused to be on the bottom during sex); she abandons Eden, wandering the earth enraged and wild, tormenting men, and snatching newborns from their mothers. Kiki Smith follows her tradition of depicting cultural myths and controversy through this sculpture. 

Kiki Smith

Ribs
Kiki Smith
1987
This piece of art was considered Minimalism and Conceptual Art in that it referenced the human form. the pink ribs that are broken indicate a source of trauma. Some have said that it invokes the transition of life as you age. I liked this work because of its simplicity and lack of color.

Kiki Smith - Sojourn

This is just one of the pieces in a large installation by Kiki Smith entitled "Sojourn," (meaning "temporary stay").  Smith is known for frequently using different types of media - it seems especially appropriate here; for the window, the lighting, and the side murals all perfectly reflect off of the central sculpture, contributing to the complete effect.  As of 2010, Sojourn was on display in the Brooklyn Museum.   

Kiki Smith

 (American, born 1954)

Title:

Flower Head 2, 

2012

Medium:

Sculptures, Bronze

Edition:

3 + 1 AP

Size:

47 x 45 x 16 cm. (18.5 x 17.7 x 6.3 in.)

Movement:

Contemporary

I liked this piece because it reminds me of the art projects I'm currently working on. It seems that Kiki Smith often combines nature and people together in her artwork. I really like the sparse petals coming from the center, that it isn't a full flower. 

I honestly think all of Kiki Smith's work is really creepy.  A lot of it looks like an amateur sketch or a sketch you would see of a suspect.  One i did kind of like is daisy chain..  It is definitely still creepy but i think its cool and looks more like a professional piece.

Update

I am working on a view pieces inspired by Robert Rauschenberg. His artwork is considered to be pop art/combines because of the more modern, and materialistic style he uses. Many of his mediums consist of hardware. Tools, metal, wood, rubber etc. He uses furniture, mantles, tires, fans, fabrics and other everyday things to create masterpieces. I am currently working on a American culture theme, mimicking his usage of these everyday mediums such as tires and scrap metal. The pieces all relate to one another in a few different ways. After many weeks of trial and error i have come to really enjoy the final installments of my project.

Kiki smith

Kiki smiths artwork is very abstract in my opinion. I feel as if she tries to create a parallel between humans an animals in a handful of her works. Kiki seems to be relating a deer and human together. I'm not sure if the deer is giving birth, or if the human is a shadow, or a spirit animal, but they definitely have a strange, intimate relationship. Her sculptures make the viewer feel awkward, at least for me, because of how unnatural a lot of it is. 

Kiki Smith "Born"

This sculpture was done by Kiki Smith in 2002 and is made of bronze. Kiki Smith says, "I always liked the idea of making things that are really open, that everybody can come to with their own ideas and responses.” Here, a relatively small deer, which does not look the least bit concerned, gives birth to a fully grown woman. The combination of woman and deer, along with the idealized, classical style of both figures, evokes Diana, the ancient Roman goddess of the hunt, who is often depicted accompanied by a deer. Deer also feature prominently in the spiritual beliefs of a number of Native American cultures, reflecting the importance of our ties to the natural world. I like Kiki Smith's idea behind this sculpture, I think it's kinda of strange how the deer is giving birth to a human being though. 

Easter Island Hipsters

So these are the Easter Island heads I'm imitating, but on a much smaller scale.  Now just imagine they lived in Williamsburg, or Beacon.  That's what I'm going for.  I plan on using easter grass to make facial hair on them, as hipsters have. Hopefully it comes out well.

Update

At this point, I have built a wooden column that my woman is going to rest upon. I am in the process of working on the bust. The neck is complete, as it is half vertebrates and half butter neck, and its moving into the shoulders will show her collarbone and the other half will start to show the ribcage. I will use the rest of the time to sculpt the woman's head and skull.

Claes Oldenburg Soft Sculptures

For my projects I am going to go along with Oldenburg's soft sculptures ideas; he makes small objects on a larger scale. I am going to have them all wrap around the idea of kids games and toys. I am going to use small objects and use newspaper and plaster strips to make soft sculptures. For my first one I am making a puzzle piece and the second is a jack.

Here we see arneson with a beer bottle that turns into a penis.  He was knows for his obscure works of art.  i am emulating him in the way that i am also putting body parts onto beer bottles.  i will be making 6 bottles each with one of the five senses. the last one will be a 6th sense that i come up with.

Bicyclette Ensevelie (Buried Bicycle)

I chose this sculpture by Claes Oldenburg because I think its cool how he presented it as if the rest of the tire is in the ground. I like how he takes everyday objects and presents them in cool exaggerated ways.

Dale Chihuly

Dale Chihuly

This is a sculpture done by Dale Chihuly. My projects will be of plants and succulents. Chihuly uses glass for his installation pieces, and very bright vibrant colors.

Sailboats

Karl Hagenauer's Sailboat sculpture has the same concept of the flat surface with something emerging from it that I would like to work on doing. I have changed my piece to resemble something similar to this piece, while still maintaining the idea of movement in the piece.