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.