Theme Park Sculpture

 

Captured Rainforest

Wood, acrylic paint, model trees, air dry clay, Winsor and Newton ink, string lights, faux leaves, fabric, wire

15.5" x 7.5" x 12.5"

This work is inspired by dark rides in theme parks. Particularly, how they isolate the rider from the outside hustle and bustle of the theme park and build their own, immersive world indoors. In my presentation, I showcased Walt Disney World’s “Tower of Terror” and Universal Orlando’s “Transformers: 3-D” as incredible examples of isolating the audience from the rest of the park and immersing them in a world within an indoor ride. I wanted to mimic the same feeling in this sculpture. The entire piece is covered in cloth. In order to view the rainforest scene inside, the viewer must look through a small hole cut into the fabric. While doing this, they can only see the environment inside of the cloth. Inside, the scene includes model trees, cliffs, a waterfall, different colors of bushes, lighting, and a hidden animal: a capybara.

I wanted to make the rainforest, of course, very green and lush. I used vibrant colors in both the base painting and the bushes to achieve this. Real rainforests, though having plenty of green, are associated with being full of color and life. Having levels was also very important to me. I knew I wanted the viewer looking at a downward angle, so I wanted them to be able to have something to look at from their eye level to the bottom of the piece. I constructed ledges out of wood, which were to represent cliffs. This way, I could space out the trees and bushes and create a larger environment within the covering.

Memento

 

Croaking Frog

wood, acrylic paint

2" x 2.5" x 2.25"

This sculpture is meant to represent my family vacation to Puerto Rico when I was young, where I visited my great-grandmother in her home. Throughout the places we visited, many gift shops and tourist locations often sold frog figurines sculpted from wood, each one painted with vibrant colors. These frogs appeared everywhere, from bobbleheads, to fans, to standalone figures. The type that I most remember are guiro rasps, commonly known as “croaking frogs.” These are a type of hollow, wooden instrument, though they don’t always take the shape of a frog. When you run a stick against the ridges along a croaking frogs back, it makes a sound similar to a “ribbit” — hence the name. I wanted to represent the shape of this instrument in the sculpture, and I wanted to choose rich and vibrant colors.

When staying in my great-grandmothers house, my bed was right by a window. Every night, through this window, I could see fireflies outside of the window. Of course, this was coupled with the sound of croaking frogs. I used yellow and blue paint on this piece to represent the fireflies that I saw against the night sky outside of that window.

Cardboard Sculpture

 

The Rocking Chair

cardboard, masking tape, spray paint

Figurative Busts

Subservient

Air dry clay, acrylic paint, Winsor and Newton ink, wood

My intent with these sculptures was to present a contrasting view of femininity through the eyes of men. This sculpture is meant to represent “women in the past,” particularly a 1950s housewife. The gender stereotypes — some of which leak into today’s thinking — placed women in the kitchen, serving only as housewives and homemakers. They did not have autonomy of their own, and were expected to be subservient to their husbands; the head of the household and main breadwinner. Though the world of women of today is very different — as they can now work, open bank accounts, own property, etc. — there is still rhetoric in “alpha male” circles expressing the desire for women to be placed back into these subservient roles, believing that it is their rightful place as a woman. The most well-known of these voices is podcaster Andrew Tate, who is an influence to many younger men and boys. He presents ideas of women being inferior and unequal to men. Many that share their views with him tend to idealize the gender roles of the 1950s where, as previously stated, women did not have much autonomy.

The sculpture of the woman is placed, alone, in a typical 1950s-style kitchen. It is meant to look cold and isolating. With this sculpture, I particularly enjoyed creating the hair. It is a style called “victory rolls” or “victory curls.” It was difficult to sculpt the curves of the style with air-dry clay, but I very much enjoyed working with it.

Scrutinized

Air dry clay, acrylic paint, Winsor and Newton ink, wood

        The second sculpture represents transgender women through the eyes of men. More specifically, transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. At this point, Mulvaney has gotten into a handful of controversies. The most notable of which is her collaboration with Bud Light, which garnered heavy backlash from people who did not want the brand of beer they drink to feature a transwoman on their cans. People went so far as to film themselves destroying any Bud Light merchandise that they had, and Dylan Mulvaney went silent on social media for weeks following the controversy. On TikTok, Dylan Mulvaney has documented her transition journey through “day in the life” videos. Despite Mulvaney presenting herself very femininely — even taking inspiration from popular 1950s/60s actress Audrey Hepburn — she is continually scrutinized and harassed, mainly by men. The lines on the platform the sculpture stands on all point towards the figure of Mulvaney, symbolizing that she is always under heavy pressure and scrutiny despite her both being a woman and presenting as what is typically expected of women in appearance, fashion, and behavior.

This sculpture is based on a real look that Dylan Mulvaney had on a post, inspired by actress Audrey Hepburn. I felt that the look better connected it to the prior sculpture, Subservient. I also enjoyed the hair of this piece, but I enjoyed the coloring more. It was interesting attempting to add blush with drawing inks to make the sculpture feel more alive and cheery, as the real public figure is.

On Longing

"The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale"

On Longing, Susan Stewart

            Immediately, this line made me think of theme parks -- which is fitting. A lot of theme parks, most notably Disney, have grand structures scattered around the park that rely on forced perspective. One of my favorite memories of theme parks was the trip I took to Walt Disney World with some friends after graduation. It was easily the best vacation I've ever had, and I'm grateful that I got to share those memories with them. Even with us all in front of the castle, it still looks huge. In reality, the Disney World castle isn't that large, it's all forced perspective.

"The souvenir speaks to a context of origin through a language of longing"

On Longing, Susan Stewart

            This sentence makes me think of when my boyfriend was away at bootcamp. All we had to communicate were letters. They were handwritten, of course, so I couldn't see any pictures or hear his voice. I often looked through old pictures of him and us together that I took prior to him leaving. Though I couldn't see him in person, and missed him greatly, looking at pictures did really help to ease that feeling.

"The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the three-dimensional into the miniature, that which can be enveloped by the body."

On Longing, Susan Stewart

            When I hear this sentence, I think of all the posts I've made to commemorate shows that I've been apart of. Nothing can compare to the real live performance, of course, so I've always found it challenging when selecting what images/videos to include. How do I condense such a big show into a little ten-slide carousel? I felt this more when posting about my senior show, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, in which I played the lead. Theatre had always been such a huge part of my life, and I knew that my senior shows would likely be one of my last times performing. I still have my costume (made out of a pink bedsheet) in a tote somewhere in my house.

"The souvenir is used most often to evoke a voluntary memory of childhood."

On Longing, Susan Stewart

            Also in my senior year of high school, I hosted a little Halloween party at my house. Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, but I had never hosted or attended a dedicated party for it. So I asked my mom, and she finally agreed to let me do it before leaving for college. My friends showed up dressed in all sorts of costumes, from Carrie to the Founding Fathers. It was easily the most fun Halloween I've ever had, and it was a fulfillment of something I've always wanted to do since I was a kid.

"The place of origin must remain unavailable in order for desire to be generated."

On Longing, Susan Stewart

            Shortly after the end of my senior year of high school, my 11 1/2-year-old dog had to get put down due to him developing intestinal cancer. I already knew I wouldn't have much time with him left, so I decided to put him onto my graduation cap. The decoration was a little haphazard, but that's because I decided to make it last minute. I took this picture of my dog, Bingo, with the cap that featured him. He's gone, but the cap's still here. Currently, it's sitting on display on a shelf in the front room of my house.

A Few of My Favorite Things

 

#1 - Vaseline. I cannot recommend this enough. I use it as chapstick for my lips. I used to be a constant Carmex user, and Vaseline is just so much better. I use this product constantly and it is so much better. It's also good for dry skin, which plagues me in the winter when I go back home to Pennsylvania.

#2 - iPad. I use this device every single day. Whether it's to draw, check apps like YikYak, post to my art Instagram account, or to play Fruit Ninja, I am always on this thing.

#3 - Water Bottle. This is a Brita water bottle, and I use it all the time. It's my best water bottle. My emotional support water bottle, dare I say. The color may not be the cutest ever, but it's good that it's highlighter yellow, as I'm always misplacing my items. I can find this easily and it's the one thing I never, ever forget to bring with me.

#4 - Dove Milk Chocolate. This is the best candy ever. I am not taking arguments. Dove milk chocolate is the best milk chocolate my mouth has ever been blessed with tasting. I get a bag of it every time I go to the store and fill my little box with it. It is easily addicting as a candy. 

#5 -  Amethyst Minnie Earrings. My boyfriend got these for me as a Christmas gift this past Christmas. I do like Disney, and amethyst is my birthstone (I was born in February, everybody get ready). The fact that it is from him makes me love it so much more. They're very easy to wear as often as possible, and go with a lot of the outfits I put on.

#6 - Polaroid Camera. This is a fun little gadget I got from a family friend when I first left for college in fall of 2022. I love taking pictures of people and sticking the polaroids onto my wall. My only gripe is that the film costs so much money. Twenty dollars for two little packs of film? Absolutely unbelievable. But, on the bright side, it means that the pictures I take are the absolute best moments, since the film is so limited.

Art 21 Response

 Ann Hamilton

"Everyone's presence registers," "Sense of pleasure"

https://art21.org/artist/ann-hamilton/

Indigo Blue, 1991

Color, Texture

The artist draws from the history of indigo being the first cash crop in Charleston to the color blue itself going from being a rare and unique color to the uniform of laborers. The piece is made up of folded clothing of real, anonymous workers' blue uniforms.

Word, 2013

Value Range

This piece features the pages of books, all of which have different yellow tones.