After finishing all the APs and adjusting into my new job in the Cranbrook financial office, I finally find sometime to talk about my final sculpture project:
Shocked.
This sculpture is made of paper clay, and is modeled by my bear hands and some simple tools for details. The part that I'm most proud of is actually the coloring. To many people's surprise, the coloring process was complete within one day, and I painted 7 hours straight in my room under the dim lamp without taking a break. There were moments when I wasn't sure if the color was right because of the insufficient light source, but it turned out to be very realistic and it looks great.
Although I always claim to be an artist ;D, I have this character that totally goes to the opposite of what people normally see in artists: my productivity. People tends to think that artists are often in this slow, meditating mode. For me, however, I might spend months meditating and thinking philosophical questions, but once I commit to one project, if time allows, I would maybe work 12 hours a day to get it finished in an insane speed.
This is how I work. I love the intensity of working and it takes me into ecstasy.
As I said in an early post, this sculpture deals with the shock and anxiety that people experience so frequently and unnecessarily during our daily life. It is true that no time is a perfect time; however, we have to recognize the present of various unsolved social problems, such as racism, terrorism, and feel the need to make a change.
I was worried about painting the gray hair, but I developed a special technique and it turns out pretty good!
All my four sculpture heads are on display in the hallway of our academic building, and they are participating in an art competition called Thistles, in which every art department at Cranbrook recommend one candidate.
When we put the sculptures together, you can see how my sculptures have evolved during the past two years. The first one,
Media, was with good thoughts but not necessarily goos skills. That was the first time I touched clay and a genderless stony face was all I could make.
My second sculpture,
Behind the Mask, was on a whole new level. With the experience of my previous head, I finished the mask side in 3 hours. It was the futuristic side that made this sculpture special. Before I carved, I had no idea what it would turn out; after I finished it, I still don't have any idea how I made this. If you look closely at the details on the metal side, you will understand how much courage I needed to carry on such an ambitious project. It is still the "Mission Impossible" even as I look at it now, but it was a great experience to challenge myself and explore my talent, ruthlessly.
"Mom, it hurts!" is a little bit different. It looked more like a movie setting instead of a head sculpture, and my inspiration came from a real story during the earthquake in China instead of some abstract philosophical thinking of my own. This was my first try of distorted facial expression; many people were scared when they see the sculpture and that means I succeeded!
I was quite surprised to find out that
Shocked was the one that stood out among all these sculptures after we put them together. I assumed that
Behind the Mask would undoubtedly be the shining star because it is so colorful and has cool Chinese element it in. However,
Shocked caught my eyes because of it's super realistic appearance. I had to keep
Shocked in my room for the weekend after I finished it, and you can imagine how "shocked" I would be if I ever got up at night......
I'm glad to see all my works together, and I already miss my Sculpture class now.
Please remember to check my blog this weekend, there will be a couple new posts.
BONUS:
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We are both SHOCKED :D
