sculpture – A DEAD LETTER

sculpture – mushroom world (head space p2)

22 January 202122 October 2021Dead Roses

Sculpture

These photos are from making the 3D piece of work, I found this easier than i though but then I had to take it home due to covid and it got smashed from the journey. This made recreating the work very hard.

As I already had the painting done as it was partly an experiment for the next piece, I got a piece of MDF that was the right size and marked out the pilot holes into the canvas. then I started using clay to for the back of the “earth”. I tried to smudge it on the board to it would stick (it didn’t). then I used some of the mushroom I had made to stick in the clay, this was easier as i had added nails into the bottom of them. I did also make new mushrooms which I painted and them dried when I was at the accommodation.

I added the mushrooms and other materials onto the clay (grass is from fake flowers, water is melted crayons, mud is crushed clay and super glue to make it look wet, mushrooms thick leaves, stumps and rocks are all clay) I let the whole thing dry.

I used a mixture of water colours and acrylic to make vibrate colours to paint the clay. i should have cut the board before adding the clay because i wanted the middle (empty) bit out but decided to paint it as the clay was to delicate to saw the wood.

This is the finish look of the work I am really happy with out it has turned out and i feel the 3d element makes the work more inviting.

the idea behind this is how someone who takes drugs to escape realty might see their head space, and they have to take a very long path to get back to real life. the bright colours and friend look is to show how they like being away from reality and in a sense going back to life is like going to the light when your dying.

Sculpture – self growth

11 January 202122 October 2021Dead Roses

Sculpture

This is the processes of me making the three heads, i started by shaping the clay in to the head shapes, with the different sizes. Then i started to cut and scrape out the skull so that i can put the plants within the heads.

shaping the faces and making the details was a lot harder than I thought they would be but I am happy with how they turned out and i feel they convey the idea I am trying to present.

once dried I painted them white and then added some shadings to help define the faces. i really like this simple look as it gives the colours a change to contrast against the bright plants.

These are photos of the final heads, I wanted this piece to show 3 stages within a humans life. child, teenager and adult. the smallest head (child) shows how a child doesn’t need to worry about who they are and they just have fun. the medium head (teenager) is finding it hard dot know who they are and to get out of there shell. the biggest (adult) this shows how they have become ok with who they are and have grown their self as they are now happy with life.

This is one of my favourite piece of work i have made and I’m so happy with how it has come out.

Sculpture – Kendal Murray

2 December 202022 October 2021Dead Roses

Sculpture

Kendal Murray is an artist who works with the miniatures (I really enjoy her work). She makes little scene on top of random objects. These are mix media piece and he inspiration is being in our heads and dream states, like how we can play with who we are within our dreams. I feel this can link into my project due to how i am experimenting with the ideas of being in the head. within her piece she gives out a lot of nature which is how I want mine to look due to nature being a comfort for me.

Kendal Murray’s Miniature Worlds – IGNANT

Statement from Kendal Murray…..

The artist states: “The idea of creating these miniature works came from dream states and how we are able to play with our own identity, to play with different roles we take on in our dream state. So the miniature works serve as a metaphor for intuitive thoughts.”

This is a statement from Kendal talking about what her art portrays feel this is what gives it a strong link into my work/project. It shows how we can be what we want within our heads but then can be trapped when we leave and wake up.

Kendal Murray’s Miniature Worlds – IGNANT

Gallery I “went” to online…..

So while looking at some of Kendal’s work I saw it was in an exhibit within the Arthouse Gallery so I decided to look at the online gallery are both her work and all the other work. I found some interesting works so ill write about it within another post.

Arthouse Gallery / Exhibition / Group Shows / Renewal

KENDAL MURRAY – Lost and Found, Common Ground

mixed media assemblage
8.5 x 7.5 x 8.5 cm

An Article From The Canberra Times…..

Art review: The peculiar Library at ANCA Gallery | The Canberra Times | Canberra, ACT

This is an article that talks about how the world is now turning to the internet but within the 21st century there was a group of artist where went into a gallery with their work to show their “fight” against it.

Sculpture – leaving My Head.

2 December 202022 October 2021Dead Roses

Sculpture

As I have been looking into head space within in sculpture, I have decided to look into both how I feel and what I image. When thinking about being inside my head I used music a lot to escape it. The piece started as a painting of what leaving my mind could look like. It remind me of Kendal Murray. I am going to be look into her more.

To create this piece I started by painting the background, at first I was just thinking of having this painting as an experiment. This is to be understand how to paint a fantasy world (as this was my first time). I wanted to be able to create a better background for my plaster skull. Once I had painted this, it then developed into a more relief piece. Due to wanted to have a lot more control within making the mushrooms and landscape, I used clay instead of plaster. The water within the artwork is made from melted crayons.

I am now going to paint and complete the plaster skull I have made.

Sculpture – skulls plaster mould.

25 November 202022 October 2021Dead Roses

Sculpture

The post before this shows how I have planned to make a skull and head out of plaster(I have also made a mini clay skull).On Sunday night I made a mould out of tin foil and masking tape, to be able to pure the plaster in.

Making The Mould…..

This is the possess of me making the skull, At first I was only going to make one half and then I decided to do the full skull as I wanted to carry on with the idea of having the mushrooms inside the skull so I going to use this doe skull to carry out that idea.

For this I made sure that the sides would line up and be able to look like a whole skull. My plan is to make a thick plaster that I can put on with my hands to the shape will be hollow, but I don’t know if it will be strong enough.

This was a lot harder to make than I thought it would be but it did end up working and holding shape in the end so after taking off the skull I was really happy with the look of it.

Doing The Plaster…..

These are some photos of the plaster being put into the moulds, at first I really wasn’t sure if it would take the weight of the plaster but it ended up holding really well.

I made one lot of thick plaster that I used my hand to layer onto the mould, next I made a thinner plaster but not much thinner and then I used some rope netting ( ) so I would put the netting into the plaster and then add it onto the dried thicker layer. This would give it a good and strong shape.

I waited two hours to take it out as I didn’t want it to break. it came out with a really good shape. it isn’t perfect but I do think it was better than I thought it would be. the edges are very ruff but I do like this as it makes a natural decay look so I can put the mushrooms inside and you have to look around the sculpture to get to see the insides.

My next post will be me paintings and adding in the mushrooms and other things.

Sculpture – making a little skull (human) out of clay

25 November 202022 October 2021Dead Roses

Sculpture

I wanted to try and make a little skull before making a bigger one, I am going to make it out of clay and see how well I can do it and if I want to then make it bigger out of clay. I also want to try and make a head out of clay, so I could possible make a mould out of it and then have a plaster head. Or I could get as statues head and then go to plastics and get it vacuumed and then that could be my mould for the plaster.

My Mini Skull…..

This is how it turned put I didn’t do the back of the skull as I did find it hard on a small scale but I think it would be better as a bigger skull. I do think an animal skull might work a bit better with an animal skull so I’m going to make a mould of a doe skull.

I started with a ball of clay and then used a metal tool, to then mark out the shapes then I started to remove the clay. It was a simple way of making the the skull and i do like the outcome, even though I do think it could have been better.

I do want to try a bigger scale as I believe it will be easier.

Sculpture – mushrooms

25 November 202022 October 2021Dead Roses

Sculpture

I manged to bring clay back to be able to make the mushrooms, i started by looking at some reference photos and shaped them. I am so happy with how they turned out.

Making the first one I found a hard as I needed to find a controlled and logical way of making them, once I had made the first mushroom I found my way I liked to do them. This meant that I started to make them faster and tried different styles.

I started getting a lump of clay to make the cap (the top of the mushroom). From this I would then use slip to add in the stem. Once the stem was on I would add the gills (lines under the cap). Then I would add the skirt (little bit coming off the stem.

I used a craft knife and scalpel to make form and markings.

painting the mushrooms…..

I dried the mushrooms on my radiator at my accommodation, I did end up braking one but it was very thin anyway so probably wouldn’t have worked. The ones that did work I manged to paint and I am so happy with how they look.

I painted these by starting painting them white to get a good base colour. Then I went in to the stem with a grey to give it a more natural look and some of them with brown and also black.

Then I started to paint the gills I used white and then I when in with grey and black to show the lighting would be above them. This was just to make the look even better than just having it white.

To finish the look, i went in with white on the cap and then started to add a light brown all over but not tasking care at the very edges as some apart can be white. when the lighter brown was on, I then went in with a slightly darker brown in the middle to give it a better look. As nature is not perfect I then also added random white and black marks to the cap.

This was the main basses of how I made all the mushrooms, I am so happy with them and think they look so realistic. I might be making more but not sure yet.

The Final Look…..

sculpture – plants in plaster.

21 November 202022 October 2021Dead Roses

Sculpture

From the mushroom idea I have (I’m still experimenting with this) developed my idea and i want to experiment within crashing the plaster to show damaged with plants to symbolize grown within mental health. I also want to add some that have dead plants in to show a healthy mental health and a bad one. This was inspiered partly by Emil Alzamora.

my plans within this idea….

I feel like the plaster would work better as it would crack more, but I don’t really want it to completely crack so I want to experiment and see if it does and how long it will last.

For this i would also let the plants grow out of the eye sockets as well so maybe the head could actual be a skull.

next post will be making the mold/clay for the head. For both ideas.

Sculpture – Plants and Emil Alzamora.

21 November 202022 October 2021Dead Roses

Sculpture

I wanted to look into head space within drug use and metal health, as they can be linked, so I was thinking of using mushrooms to show the growth of a mental health but also people link mushrooms to drugs (e.g. magic mushrooms).

Emil Alzamora…..

She is an artist that has made me think of a way to develop my idea and make it a lot more interesting and something I would love to experiment with.

These are some works of her that I found interesting but the one that really caught my eyes was one where she has a human head and had a plant out the top of it..

This image is what gave me the idea of how I could improve and develop my work in to something more interesting and experimental than just a simple sculptor. I still have more ideas than this one but I want to experiment with it to see how well it would work.

When first looking into heads I was thinking of going through a drug like subject but after seeing this it made me think of a better was to show my work, and have the plants roots crack the work. I have a plan for this but ill put it on another post.

so from this next I will be making a plant of how I could now do the ideas of my next experiment. I will also be adding designs and possible images of it.

sculptor – mushrooms

21 November 202022 October 2021Dead Roses

Sculpture

One of my ideas for the head space project within sculpture is drugs and mental health. A lot (not all) people do sue drugs to help them get through depression and other mental health problems but they are not always linked.

I wanted to develop on from what we did in the beginning of this project where we made head molds for plaster and also made a box within woodwork.

Mushrooms (drugs and metal health)….

when I thought about a way to show metal health and drugs i thought of mushrooms first as not only do people connect them to drugs but it growth of mental health. mushrooms can be found on dead trees, these trees are normal hard wood (e.g. oak and beech trees). They are also found on tree stumps and fallen trees/branches.

These are some photos I took that I found inspirational.

My Links To Headspace…..

The mushroom would show how that persons mental health had died and now is growing into something more dangerous. This is through how they grown on dead things and they are normally seen as poisonous. Then they would also link to drugs and this would be involved in making your headspace better as you escape the bad thoughts.

Link Back To Before Induction…..

These are some of my ideas I want to try within this idea and see how each on them work. One of them involved the my box ideas as well.

I want to try this idea with clay and also plaster, I think they clay will work better due to being able to stick things to it better.