Open Form

Clay and Multiples

Project Description:  In this project you will communicate the idea of Kitsch. Create at least 3 multiple size hollow 2-3 ” shapes out of clay. You will be using these multiples and a slab built clay cylinder/vessel (2.5″ high x 6″ wide) to create your final object as long as the overall composition is Dynamic! Be sensitive to the repetition and gesture of the pieces to direct the viewer’s eye movement through out the composition. 

Using a minimum of 3 multiple forms create a dynamic composition built on a 2.5″high X 6 inch diameter slab built cylinder and incorporate your Kitsch object in the composition.

Process

I first I had to find my kitchen objects to inspire what I’d build for the pedestal. I went to my local thrift store Ladders and found these ceramic blue horses. I thought the most obvious way to stay on theme with the idea of a kitsch object was to make kitsch looking pedestal to go along with it. To me, this meant to make a habitat for the horses. I knew I wanted to somehow implement the same blue from the horses onto my pedestol. So I created a pond where I would later paint blue. to match.

I made an organic looking hollow form for the terrain. To make the main from more interesting, I added a strip of clay running up along the side of the mountain terrain along with a barn for the horses to rest in. Another thing I did to make the piece more interesting was that I created repetition with the hose shoes. Another thing I did to make the piece more interesting was add texture on all surfaces. I used a fork to create the texture of the grass, a needle tool to create the wood texture on the barn and rock crevices on the cliffside.

A hurdle I faced was that when I was completely done sculpting the piece, I dropped it on the corner of the barn. So I had to completely redo the barn and terrain in that area. This was super time consuming but luckily I learned some strategies of what worked and what didn’t when I worked on the barn the first time, so it didn’t take as long the second time.

One regret I have is making the piece so grounded. I knew I should have added a form under on side of the piece to make it more dynamic but I wasn’t sure how to do that and make it seem cohesive with the rest of the piece. I wish I spent more time thinking about it because it seems so obvious as to what I could have done now. I would add a few tall “rocks” under the back side of the piece where there isn’t much going on. Not only would this give the other cliffside more interest, but it would elevate the flat top the sculpture and make it into a hill instead of a field.

Something I was successful in though was painting the object. I knew I was lacking in terms of the form being dynamic so I wanted to put more effort in painting it. For the cliffside, I had horizontal strips of “stone” to add texture, but it served well when I was painting on the lighter layer. After I had put a layer of dark grey paint on all of the “rock”s surface, I took a lighter grey and brushed it on vertically so I only hit the apex areas of the rock.

After the critique, I learned I could spray the piece with ___ to make it a shiny texture. I did this in hopes of partially redeeming myself for not being able to color-match the blue and keep that same vibrancy of the horses as I’d hoped to. I sprayed the entire piece with the __, minus the horse shoes. I kept them matte similarly to the white shown in the kitsch objects to keep things consistent. I also thought that leaving them matte brought more attention to them.

Overall, I believe I did a good job with matching the vibe of the kitsch objects with the podium and painting it. I think I could have improved on adding more forms to the piece to make it more dynamic.