maandag 8 september 2014

Bryonosaurus Colepiokite fossil

I have finished a new fictional fossil! This time one that is based on a character of my own imagination, which means an animal that has never existed, but it does in my mind and now it is there in real life. So it did exist….because I have a fossil here!
So what is this new character? It is a Bryonosaurus; a Dinosaur with feathers, same size as a pigeon, but it can't really fly. Well, just a little bit, because it uses the hands as a kite to propel itself over land and water. It has big hands with lots of feathers and long skinny arms, shorter legs and big feet and is a carnivorous animal that likes to eat small frogs.

The name comes from on of the first feathered animals the Bryonosaurus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byronosaurus
The second part of its name is based on its skill of kite surfing, mainly the hands that form the kite. 'Colepio' is old Greek for knuckle, because the first remains of this animal was found long time ago, but this specimen is in much better state.

In this fossil only one of its typical features is clearly visible and those are his long arms. The bones of the hands and feet were a bit lost in time. The skull is very nicely preserved for us.



My next sculpture is probably going to be a commission and the first of its kind, so stay tuned!

zaterdag 6 september 2014

Exploring the thoughts behind the ideas for my sculptures

I have recently spend some time reflecting on what I have made in the past 5 years. I often concluded that my sculptures are pretty innocent creatures, although freaky, and that My more political thoughts never really properly got in to them, with some exceptions though.

But if I look at de various types of sculptures I make, I discovered that subconsciously I didn't just like them in a random way. It all was environment and waste focussed, but very very difficult to see. I noticed the urge to create animals. The urge to use natural materials. The need to adapt animals to subconsciously add an evolutionary theme. So for a lot of them I won't be claiming so higher explanation about how I view the world, but I do want to use this post to describe what was going on in my head.

If I take my first sculptures, the are all animal crossovers and a lot of them with robotic parts. I have always liked that contrast. Not really sure why, but might figure that out at some point. So animals are big. I easily could have used humans, but no. I found that I actually don't rate humans as important for me as other people might do.
I have also used a lot of bones and that has a clear death theme in it, but more the urge to explore the things of real life you normally don't see. I have always had the urge to do the opposite thing. Sometimes to show people alternatives or just to show something different. My scavenger mentality did really help with that as well. I have always picked stuff up as a child and was always thinking it would be a shame to throw things away. Here comes the urge to use waste. For me using waste goes further than just reusing things. I very strongly believe not to use more than I need, even if it doesn't have an effect in the environment. It sometimes is an obsession, but not a very clear one.
With the fictional fossils, I am really diving into the imagination and I found that fossils somehow feel like the best way to prove that characters of my imagination, animals and the like, were alive and not just a sculpture. Looking back, this is a nice mirror for all the fake lives we are creating ourselves online. We use our imagination and try to bring it alive as much as we can.

So far e quick blurp on this. I might come back with more evolved thoughts...