jumpin' on in..

then figuring out how to swim later.

That is, fortunately and unfortunately, how I roll. Sometimes I just gotta GET STARTED, ready or not. Current, aspiring-to-be-a-wall-sculpture is no exception. I was gonna build it horizontally (makes sense), but got impatient waiting for (better half) to help me with some construction that needed to be done first. So, after a while, I'm like, eh, I'll worry about that later, let's start with it standing upright....

Well, with clay, anything is really possible and there's no wrong way of doing things, only better, more effective, less painful ways. Let's just say, I see now why the masters of hanging sculpture work on the floor (below) or off the wall itself. There's an important relationship there, visually and physically that has to be considered throughout the entire process. I realized this last week when imagining my two headed's hanging on the wall, looking like they'd been sawed off at the waist... too creepy even for me. 

Arthur Gonzalez working on a wall sculpture on the floor.

So now that the thing is half made and rather late in the game, I go figuring out solutions to this dilemma of the wall - the learning how to swim when already in the water part. I turn to my favorite artist hero, Arthur Gonzalez' work for some ideas. Tell me he's not amazing! OK, now I get it. The piece needs to EMERGE from the wall like out of water. I do think I would have been more consciously aware of that had I started off with a flat surface... well, next time.

Arthur Gonzalez from the Messengers and Travelers Series