My boyfriend and I visited an interesting sculpture exhibit at the Flint Institute of Art this summer titled Form, Function, and Fantasy. The exhibit was divided into 3 rooms, each embodying one of the aforementioned themes. I captured my absolute favorite pieces from the exhibit, and wanted to share them with you. I know I discovered many new favorite artists in the process. I think all of the pictures I took were from the “fantasy” section, which for me is honestly not surprising. We accidentally went through the exhibit backwards, viewing fantasy first which may also have had something to do with it. Let’s be real, in art as in life, everything’s a letdown after that ;).

Irina Zaytceva – Twins

I was actually drawn to make a trip out to this exhibit based on this image I saw on the FIA website. I love the melding of old world artistry with fairy tale mermaids. The bold red coral shapes growing off of it give this piece add an element of abstract and modernity to the piece as well, bringing one more dimension to the mix. I am personally so much more of a drawing and painting person than a sculpture person, so I think I loved the fact that the surface of this 3D form was used as a canvas for 2D art as well, incorporating both types of design.

Richard Notkin – Heart Teapot: Ironclad Hostage II

As a tea enthusiast, I absolutely adore looking at uniquely designed teapots. My absolute favorite thing about days off is my cup of tea right after I wake up in the morning, no joke, usually accompanied by doing some sketching, reading a book or the news. I am such an old person at heart at a mere 28 years on this earth. In all seriousness though, the design of this teapot inspired sculpture is flawless. Combining industrial elements with anatomy and figuring out how to transform the shape of a human heart into a vessel for tea somehow could not have been an easy task. You don’t even notice it’s a teapot at first, it just looks like an interesting sculpture. The fact that it hides its more mundane function is rather interesting.

Sergei Isupov – Zombie Fish

I love the tall, thin forms, the monochromatic color scheme, and the detail that makes this piece look like a pen and ink illustration from a children’s scary story picture book come to life in 3-dimensional form. Very fun and inventive.

Krisaya Luenganantakul – Happy House #1

As I read more about this artist, I discovered she has a whole series of these lovely, whimsical houses in vibrant colors and with floating, dreamlike, organic detail. The project is titled “Homemade – a project where the womb, the home, and the female are interpreted under a new light.” This project discusses the idea that oftentimes feminine traits are associated with weakness and fragility. However, patience, tenderness, forgiveness, and love are strengths that have made them universal protectors and caretakers for every family over time. And, important nurturing that determines the growth  and well-being of all humans takes place in both the womb and the home, centered around the female. It is interesting and different to see a project about female empowerment that is based on the value of women’s more traditional roles. I was originally drawn by the visuals, but found the idea behind the design very thought provoking as well.  

Michael Lucero – Hunter (Reclamation Series)

There is no way I could not be drawn to this piece by color alone. I absolutely love pops of bold red amongst neutral tones, and use this color scheme in my own work often as well. There are a lot of interesting details the longer you look at it, and the contrast between the style of the head and body is staggering. Yet, when you look at the piece as a whole it is unified. I myself was working on sketches for a series incorporating faces being covered in various winged things, so of course I was first drawn to the most noticeable visual element of the moth over the figure’s face.

Akio Takamori – Karako With Striped Kimono

I found this sculpture to be so incredibly calming to look at. The soft, round forms, harmonious pale colors, and flowing watercolor-like drips along with the neutral, solemn face were very peaceful to me. I think if this was in my house and I could just look at it whenever I got tense, I would never lose my temper.

Sunkoo Yuh – Horn Blower

I loved the dripping glaze application in this piece because again, it reminded me of watercolor. I also loved the totem quality it had to it,the many figures and faces stacking atop one another. Each is such a distinctive, unique character in the composition.

Sara Lisch – Lion’s Journey

This was another piece that reminded me of a children’s book illustration come to life. I love the muted color scheme, and the stylized features of the human and animals. There is definitely a story here, and it is left to the viewer to imagine where they are all headed to.

I’d encourage you to visit the links to see more of these artists’ work. All of their pieces are just as fantastic as these. I am forever in awe of 3D artists. The best sculpture I ever made was this cardboard, modeling clay, and found object punk-diorama time-based piece pictured below.

It was a final project for my intro to 3D class in college, a time-based assignment meaning a piece that would somehow change over time as part of it’s presentation, not lasting in its original form. Basically, the so-so sculpted clay girl in the center was all white and pristine at the beginning, and then everyone in the class got to take turns sticking the different objects to her, dumping paint on her, and otherwise altering her form. It dealt with how perceptions shape identity, and was all anti-conformity, anti-media, and all that good stuff – very much what I was thinking about at that time of my life. Of course, my best sculpture would be ephemeral. What rotten luck. At least I’ll always have the pictures.