Some new small sculptures

[cheesepaws]

Friendship Is Magic
Bronze, nylon flocking, paint
about 5 inches tall
2014

[Dries]

I like it Cheespaws the colours and vintage look works well.

[raspero]

It twists my brain into a pretzel. Very effective use of shape and color.

Richard

[cheesepaws]

Thanks guys. Here is another where I am trying out the "distressed" finish.



Shit Kickers
cast aluminum, flocking, paint
about 9" high
2014

[scrapartoz]

amazing work cheese!

[cheesepaws]

Thanks Scrap! Love the throne BTW.

This one kinda did its own thing - is what it is.



By and By
painted cast bronze
5" high or so
2014

[raspero]

Another mind twister. You do good things to metal.

Richard

[RWJR]

Those are great, odd and beautiful, what are you going to do with?

[cheesepaws]

Originally Posted by RWJR

Those are great, odd and beautiful, what are you going to do with?

Show 'em....sell 'em....use them to hold down the papers on my desk.

This one is a bit saucy!



Kuntry Mouse
painted cast bronze
about 7 inches high
2014

[scrapartoz]

mickey is bored , no money ,girlfriend, meditative skills, books , internet , TV , music ,art , company or wonderful scenery to absorb.
is he looking for cheese?

[jim collins]

A fantastic approach that relates to Kitsch Art of the early 20th to middle Twentieth Century. Congratulations on casting them and then painting them with the appearance of wear and age. Your special twist with the subject makes a powerful statement. An outstanding series with a scale that is larger than one would expect but small enough to fit nicely on anyone’s special plinth. Great work!

[cheesepaws]

Originally Posted by jim collins

A fantastic approach that relates to Kitsch Art of the early 20th to middle Twentieth Century. Congratulations on casting them and then painting them with the appearance of wear and age.

Thanks Jim. The kitsch element is fun to play around with and helps keep the work accessible. These are composite figures made from piecing together bits and parts from a stash of old ceramic slip molds I have (most dating from the 60's - 80's). The mouse, for example, has parts from 4 different molds incorporated - in addition to a good deal of "properly" sculpted bits. As you can see I do like playing with the surfaces. Not all of them start "aged" but they will all get there in the end. Here is another:



World's Best
painted cast bronze
aprox. 5" high
2014

[rika]

Interesting direction in this series, Cheese. I like the distressed bronze look, and it almost seems like a sacrilege committed against the material when I think of today's prohibiting costs of bronze casting. Which is not in your case, I know, but still. Your concepts are always prompt me to ponder what the heck do you want to express with them.

Originally Posted by cheesepaws

This one kinda did its own thing - is what it is.

This piece is my favourite, will you give a little more background on it?
I always found your work highly conceptual and intellectual, so "doing its own thing" seems like a departure. Am intrigued now! I like the twin-ness also that had me preoccupied for a spell recently as well.

[cheesepaws]

Originally Posted by rika

This piece is my favourite, will you give a little more background on it? I always found your work highly conceptual and intellectual, so "doing its own thing" seems like a departure. Am intrigued now! I like the twin-ness also that had me preoccupied for a spell recently as well.

Thanks for the compliments! As far as the "doing its own thing" comment - I should clarify that this series of sculptures are a real departure for me. Not so much in terms of content (they continue my investigation of identity), but rather in that my process for making them really pushes me out of my comfort zone. It does this in a few ways. Firstly, I have more parameters from the start as I am drawing wax parts from a fairly limited "pallet" of old slip molds or vintage candles. I tend to very a fairly controlled sculptor with a fixed idea about the end result that I then "reverse engineer" in order to make the work. Because of my initial limitations, however, these small sculptures require me to be more impulsive and process driven. The figures emerge from the process. Sounds simple, and many folks already work this way, but I have resisted this method of making for a long while. Additionally, as a way of mediating the often dissimilar bits and pieces that make up the figures, I am doing more traditional sculpting than I have in years. I typically prefer a bit of distance from my materials, so in this too I am opening up to a different sense of control and therefore am somewhat resigned to unknowns (hence, "doing its own thing").

The entire series is open to failure at many points in addition to falling victim to my own hand. These are not editions. Each sculpture is envisioned as a unique form. Some fail at the wax stage. Some fail in the burn out. Some fail in the bronze casting process. At each point I evaluate any "failures" and determine if they are working for or against the piece. For example, with By-and-By, being a solid bronze casting, the sculpture partially tore itself apart while cooling. The flaw worked so very well with the form (conceptually balancing out the cheek kiss just above the tear) - so I ran with it. Again, giving myself in to process.

The same applies to my final finishes - which I don't over think. In this case, the flesh is "cakey" and the clothing is done as a basic - even "dollar store" faux bronze finish. Why? I have no idea and I am realizing that maybe that is Ok.

Yes, twins are a fun subject, as is self-love - a theme in all of these pieces so far.

This is a side body of work for me right now. I see them as characters to lost fables or fables yet to be written. I don't expect to make more than 6-10 a year...if that.

Hope all that is helpful.

[cheesepaws]

Speaking of self-love....here is a trophy I made for me.



Juiced
cast and found aluminum, poplar wood, paint
40" high
2014

[raspero]

Juiced is totally great.

Richard

[Nelson]

Interesting work Cheese,

I like how you knead irony and fun into these sculptures, lol

[Nelson]

Originally Posted by scrapartoz

mickey is bored , no money ,girlfriend, meditative skills, books , internet , TV , music ,art , company or wonderful scenery to absorb.
is he looking for cheese?

darn ya! lol

[cheesepaws]

Again - thanks for the encouraging words everyone. Here is an odd ball in the series - more of an experiment (not currently counting as part of the series but let me know if it does anything for you).



Vessel
painted bronze
arox. 7" high
2014

[evaldart]

Such created things must be assessed by their ability to conjure sympathetic magic. Objects that do not play by the rules of other (purely aesthetic) artifacts. So in this way, the narratives, which are only there by the incidence of culture, are far down the line in terms of how these things might get experienced.
Juiced is my favorite....what a combo. "Modern' paganism, whether you like it or not.

[grommet]

Great meaningful pieces, especially the comment about accessibility. Eyes and minds can wander as far as they like.
I suppose the sad part is the tendency to remain near the door.

RE: vessel-- is it solid? photo unclear in that regard.

[cheesepaws]

Originally Posted by grommet

Great meaningful pieces, especially the comment about accessibility. Eyes and minds can wander as far as they like.
I suppose the sad part is the tendency to remain near the door.

RE: vessel-- is it solid? photo unclear in that regard.

Hey G.! Been a while, hope you are well. Thanks for commenting.

Yes, the vessel is solid. I picked the form for its visual weight and I edited off the original handle and made some subtle changes around the original lip of the form. I was trying to balance the recognizable "vessel" form with something that is more mechanical, like some hard-to-place aerospace rocket part or alien artifact. In the end I liked the Genie bottle look of the thing.

[Nelson]

Originally Posted by cheesepaws

Hey G.! Been a while, hope you are well. Thanks for commenting.

Yes, the vessel is solid. I picked the form for its visual weight and I edited off the original handle and made some subtle changes around the original lip of the form. I was trying to balance the recognizable "vessel" form with something that is more mechanical, like some hard-to-place aerospace rocket part or alien artifact. In the end I liked the Genie bottle look of the thing.

I think it´s a nice vessel. Now as a sculptural piece, I feel it would need to adventure, to make a statement, to leave the formal side of pottery... just an opinión, and certainly don´t know your intention.

[cheesepaws]

Originally Posted by Nelson

I think it´s a nice vessel. Now as a sculptural piece, I feel it would need to adventure, to make a statement, to leave the formal side of pottery... just an opinión, and certainly don´t know your intention.

Nelson, my intention is to make art. This sculpture happens to reference the vessel but isn't one itself. Here the utilitarian object we recognize as a vessel is solid ....perpetually "filled." Like other metaphorical vessels - our minds...our souls...this object embraces the hubris of fulfillment. Untippable. Unspillable. Yet, presumably, able to be bottled. Sold. An elixir? Potion? Or some other spirit held within? More self love at work here. Vessel and content melded in eternal embrace.

Or something like that....

Surely that helps it leave the "formal side" of ceramics. No?

[Duck]

Originally Posted by cheesepaws

Here the utilitarian object we recognize as a vessel is solid ....perpetually "filled." Like other metaphorical vessels - our minds...our souls...this object embraces the hubris of fulfillment. Untippable. Unspillable. Yet, presumably, able to be bottled. Sold. An elixir? Potion? Or some other spirit held within? More self love at work here. Vessel and content melded in eternal embrace.
?

looks like a boat anchor