NCECA 2012

NCECA INSTALLATION IN SEATTLE  

The human figure with the head of an animal is representative of the relationship between humans and the natural environment and its creatures.  This connection is fortified through the figural likeness to male and female human forms. The human likeness is a definitive reminder that we (humans) are no more than a species inhabiting the same planet as these creatures. 

The figurines are representative of native species which are part of the regional ecosystem; they stand juxtaposed to a human made object: concrete, glass, steel, vehicles, and humans; Seattle.   This can be viewed as a symbolic gesture suggesting the potential for an answer to the encroachment and plundering of humans upon the natural environment through technology and knowledge.  This juxtaposition is also a symbolic of an irony; that these objects are the very man-made objects and inventions which lead to the creature’s peril.

This relationship between the ceramic material from which the effigies are constructed and their ethereal counterpart, the environment, becomes apparent through their degradation by the erosive weathering processes of nature.  In this way the raw clay bodies show the fragility and vulnerability of species under the pressure of mankind.  In this way the effigies stand in gesture of submission to the surrounding metropolis. They are diminutive to further represent their present status in the current order of the industrial complex.

  This body of work focuses on the relationship between human impact on the landscape and the preceding environmental consequences beginning with the destruction and disappearance of the habitats of native animals.  This installation considers the present course of human evolution and its detrimental impacts upon the land and natural environments.

                                                                                                          Written by Karl Schwiesow
Creative Team 

 Karl Schwiesow,  Amanda Dabel,  Bianca Del Cioppo,  Molly Allen,  Heath Pierson,  Marvin Blake,  Shannon O'leary,  Flor Widmar  and  Evan Cook

Commissioned Work

Back in the Saddle

Hey all, I know it has been a long while since my last post, but I am back in the swing of things and I intend on posting about the last few months. So much has happened and I can't wait to go back and write about it. This is just a quick note to my readers, I am sorry for the lack of posting, but I will return here soon.

More Work- More Eggs!

So I posted a while back about the piece below in its early form. I have been looking nature's textures, taking one idea and stylizing it to fit with my egg forms. This is what I have some up with. This idea came both from a spiky sea slug I saw in a book of mine and drops on the roof  of a volcanic cave. It is not completed, I am filling two sides of this egg, not the whole thing.  It has been a long process, but it seems well worth it. I like how it's turning out.

This one went very fast, I just started it today. I was looking at tree fungus. I am going to be adding a few details, but I like how this one is coming out as well.

Newest Egg Form

I have been looking online a lot for patterns and textures in nature that I would apply to my work. So far I have seen many textures that I can play with, so my eggs will have a creature appeal to them. This is my newest egg and I have started to put spikes on him, like cave crystals hanging down along a cave wall. Pictures to come.

The Next Level "Egg" Maneuver

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday vacation! I am back in the studio, working on my new ideas. Since everyone responded really well to my "egg" piece from my JAPR show, I have been working on taking that shape to the next level. I have been looking at textures in nature for inspiration and for the last few days, this is what came of it.

My barnacle egg, not completed, but close. Very tedious work, but worth it. This is just a practice run for a much bigger one.

 I am also making a few small models for my next pieces, maybe 1/20 the size of my final piece.

 My honey comb egg? Maybe, I just loved the pattern and the repetition for this one, not done. This is just the base, I will be adding something to it.

 

This is one that perplexes even me, but I wanted these branches to be coming out of the egg, like tentacles, then I was experimenting with a light slip over the smooth surface to make it wavy.