Head: This work shows an attempt to create a self-portrait through analyzing details of the face and portraying them on clay. This work tells me that I have developed as a beginning sculpture student since the creation of my self-portrait. I had to wedge a large piece of clay so that I would get rid of any air bubbles that would cause my project to explode when put in the kiln. After that, I molded the features of my face while looking through a mirror and when I finished, I sliced the completed project in half with a piece of wire so that I would hollow it as much as possible from the inside. Additionally, to put the two halves together, I used a form of liquid clay called slip. Finally, my project was completed and was fired in the kiln. Through every step of this process, I was learning new techniques that I was totally unaware of before. The next time I work on something familiar, my goal is to pay more attention to detail and reveal such detail in my work; such as eyelashes, more defined eyes/eyelids, and hair. Two artists who inspired me in my artwork were Michael Brenner and Elizabeth Caddy. Michael Brenner's work is hung up on the cupboards in Mr. Gutowski's classroom and he depicts abstract figures in a rough style...it appears as though he did not use slip on many of them. We watched a movie about the work and life of Elizabeth Caddy. I found that particular film very useful because we saw it in the beginning classes of sculpture 1 when I had no idea about using clay, glazing, or firing objects. We witnessed a variety of techniques that could create texture, symmetry, and visual interest.

References: Michael Brenner, Elizabeth Caddy

Recycled piece: This work shows a way to create various creative forms of artwork through materials thought to be useless. This work tells me that recycling supplies can actually yield to a successful piece that can help in the development of one's creativity that can be useful for future projects. I used supplies such as chopsticks, pipe cleaners, old computer chips, tuna cans, netting, marbles, thick wire, and clay to create a figure. I gradually developed the idea of my final piece as I worked on it. I glued the pieces together by using a hot glue gun. The final work represented a small vehicle that could transport a bear (made from clay) and a butterfly. The body of this vehicle was the tuna can and below it I glued computer chips so that it would appear as if gadgets ran it. Also, below the tuna can, I placed four wooden wheels that would allow the piece to move. On top of the tuna can, I glued a CD and I created several flower petals out of wire netting all the way around. One of the difficulties that I encountered when finishing this piece was when we went to photograph them and displayed them in the library; after I had displayed it, a classmate began to play with the bear and dropped it so that the arm broke off. I learned to use and apply a type of abstract and 3-dimensional artwork through mixed media.

Reference: Eric Feng

This is a picture of my head from a front view.