Sunday, March 29, 2009


The second piece in the series - a fat, lazy bird. Grounded by the tower he's got on his back, he just sits dopily. I wanted to make three bird, one fat and lazy (this one), one old and cynical, and one stupidly optimistic. They would all be tethered to each other by bridges connecting the towers. I have yet to make a stupid optimistic one I'm happy with, so the two I finished have just been displayed alone and flightless.

A Beast Submits

The finished piece: A Beast Submits


Clay work was done, so now just drying it out for the glazing!
Back view after the slabs were added for the house.
and the front. They were still pretty soft when I put them on so it would look more like they were melding with the skin. I thought this was important for the concept - not that the houses were just built there or fastened on, but that they grew from the animals and their relationship was symbiotic.
This was the first piece in the series I've been working on lately. The basic idea of most all my artwork has been trying to find a balance with basic human nature and the modern world. So these animals, which I try to use to represent raw emotion (ie: dog = loyalty, anger ; pig = sloth, defeat) are burdened by the structures that grow from their backs, but are ultimately responsible for them because they are attached. So the sculptures are the resulting struggle of that playing out. Weighted down birds get fat, vain rabbit ignores the house and it ends up burning... that sort of thing.