During my first year of sculpture, I finally encountered my first period of art block which halted pretty much any and all inspiration... I wanted to continue the newfound trend of rabbits of course, but I also wanted to incorporate something more personal or even something nostalgic. I would stay late night for hours on end playing around with a couple of different and concepts/ways I could represent such a thing. After roughly a week and a half of nightly hours of just working with the clay, shapes would finally begin to form. I was feeling rather love sick at the time of making the piece. It was early February and decided to let my emotions pour into the clay. Each statue is to be embedded with an individual emotion, ideal, or struggle. 

"Love" I wanted to be a piece to speak upon the nuance of  oppression against queer relationships and identity. "I'm okay with it, so long as it isn't around me or shoved down my throat", "I don't support LGBTQ+ rights, but i'm okay with them, I have gay friends", "They can't reproduce  properly so the population is going to dwindle", "It's a trend" etc. I have heard it all. The hate towards the LGBTQ+ may have dwindled, but has since become passive at the hands of censorship and ignorance. Through this concept, severance had come to mind. A couple attempting to embrace one another through the censorship and disapproval of their love through the severance of their arms.

"Spite" was actually the second piece created of the two despite being so frustrated at the time. Once the anger I had harbored took root within the piece, I worked diligently throughout building process. It was exciting to have had a continuation of my breakthrough, yes, but I also couldn't help but find a mild amount of satisfaction of having found success in the fact of doubt. I had proved to myself that the hardships only fueled my desire to have the work finished with a well polished amount of quality.

"But what does the name have to do with the sculptures? When I was younger, I would immerse and bury myself within nature and the natural environment of the woods and my garden. Because of that, I was lucky to realize the beauty that existed there at such an early age. I like to think it that its the place where my deeper emotions were born."

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Explicit Materials : Aluminum, Bronze

Hours: 65+

Project No. #0002

Status: Completed (Follow-Up Series)