Breadth III : Multiples and Modules - Artist Inspiration ~ Jennifer Maestre

Our next breadth assignment is titled "Multiples and Modules" because we have the option of creating a sculpture using multiples of a distinct object to form another object or creating an interesting form out of modules (toothpicks, marbles, dice, pencils, etc.)

After receiving the assignment I was rather perplexed as to what I was going to do and whether I would want to use multiples or modules. So I set out to find some inspiration in the artists that employ this art form as their specialty.

In my search, I came across a spectacular talent by the name of Jennifer Maestre!

Maestre is an artist who is known for these amazing modular sculptures inspired originally by the texture and shape of a sea urchin.

She has come up with a very creative process of cutting pencils into one-inch strips, drilling holes into them to make them into a sort of bead, and then sharpening them. She sows them together using the peyote stitch, resulting in some absolutely lovely and colorful organic forms.

The variety in her pencil colors makes her pieces visually breathtaking and the quality of her work is top-notch. I never thought someone could create such an accurate 3D portrait of me but I was proven wrong by this spot-on sculpture of my face pictured on the right.

This is probably my favorite piece by her and also the inspiration for my own modular project!

Check out her website to see even more amazing pencil sculptures. While you're at it, make sure to look up some of her older, nail sculptures; they're super cool as well!

http://www.jennifermaestre.com/pencils_1.htm

Concentration II : The Strongman - Construction

During the process of creating this piece, I was finally able to narrow down my concentration: Freak Show Performers. I notice in hindsight that this might have been inspired by many of my friends fan-girling over American Horror Story but I hope to interpret these characters very differently and come up with my own version of classic acts first made popular in 16th century England.

For this concentration, I decided to create a male character based off the "strong man" act that was known for his signature facial hair and for lifting heavy objects or humans in front of a live audience.

I really wanted my strong man to be holding a toothpick in his mouth so the first obvious thing to do was use one of my classmates, Peter, as a model.

I then create my two pinch pots, attached them, added dents for the eye sockets and added a mustache, nose, chin, and lower lip.

I also took a giant lump of clay and shaped it into a preliminary shoulder and chest form.

I added eyes and eyelids and refined some of the structural details of my character's face.

I soon noticed how unnatural he looked with his mouth closed like that so I had to rip off that pretty little mustache and sculpt a more toothy mouth.

First order of business: find the perfect model:

MYSELF!

Do you see a resemblance? Because I sure do! And yes, I am a part-time model, thank you for asking.

After not capturing the absolute perfect expression for my Strong Man because I cannot model for my life, I set on a quest to sculpt the expression I wanted with a more test and check approach.

Exhibit A:

                  Uh.... no.

Exhibit B:

                                  Closer but still no.

I decided to move on to another part of the sculpting process and come back to Strong Man's face later because I was going no where at that point.

So I skipped over to my favorite part: REMOVING THE INNARDS!

Teeheeee you can see his nose holes 

Being the genius that I am, I thinned out too much around his eye ONCE AGAIN (yes, I have done this once before) and I don't know if you can see by the picture above, but I had to patch up his eye and re-sculpt it. 

I then reattached his scalp and moved on to plopping his head onto a neck and then onto a chest. 

I proceeded to adding some muscles and had to unfortunately use reference photos of really ugly men (it is really hard to write sarcastically but what I in fact am being sarcastic; these reference photos made my day, Tom Hardy is beautiful and has mad trapz that should be worshipped)

My teacher also gave me a heads up (pun intended) when she noticed that my sculpture's face was pointed up in an unnatural angle. 

He looks quite scrawny in the above photo but I eventually added almost another head length of clay to his shoulders and refined his muscles. 

I also added ears to top off his main anatomy.

As you can see, I broadened his shoulders and added his one-strap costume.

And with this large amount of added clay, comes the need to...

REMOVE THE INNARDS!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAH

The result was a very large amount of scrap clay and a satisfaction that is very concerning to have had after carving out the insides of a fake person. I should probably talk to someone about that.....

ANYWAY

I used water and some paintbrushes to smooth out the surfaces of his skin and finalize any rough edges.

I also used some texture tools to add the fur effect to his singlet!

And here he is! Say hello to Strong Man!