Theo, In the Round

For this piece, we had the option to either make a relief sculpture or a sculpture in-the-round to depict a loved one or something meaningful to us, using a material that suited the subject. I had been hoping to try wire as a medium since starting this class as well as making a little sculpture of my dog and thought this would be a fitting assignment to do so for. My aunt; whom we adopted our dog from; is also an artist and many years ago, created a wire portrait of my dog which acted as my inspiration for this project. Although hers is flat, I chose to create a sculpture in-the-round of my dog, in what we call his ‘zen mode’. When he is really relaxed or content, he gets into this pose; seated, high posture, eyes closed; he tilts his nose to the ceiling and perks his ears up, and here he will sit for minute after minute, just swaying slightly. Using several photos for reference, I first started with a side angle outline of his body and wrapped wire around it in the shape of his body to create the basic form. I didn’t realize how difficult wire can actually be in creating a three dimensional form and had many difficulties in the wrapping and ‘knotting’ of every section. Once I had finished the body part of this, I began using different wire to attach ears and other parts to him, effectively damaging many parts around the ear area that led to the loss of the first head. Many of the points connecting the head to the neck broke and eventually it was only attached by a few thin pieces of wire. So instead of trying to go into those points and carefully reconnect some, I thought it would be easier to just cut it off and start a new head, this time trying to be more delicate in the process and forming the ears separately and attaching them afterwards. Though probably the better option for the final result, I had forgotten just how long it took to create these features and spent many more painstakingly long days trying to finalize the form. Due to this, I didn’t have time to add features I had initially wished to, such as a tail, legs and his spots, so I stuck to the important features only, which was really just the ears and a base to keep it upright and in the position it needed to be in. This was definitely one of the more frustrating pieces I’ve done this year and if I had spent more time on it, I would’ve added a lot more which I think is needed to give the full effect of the ‘zen mode’, but I am proud of how the basic form turned out and may choose to add those features later on, if given the time to do so. Another thing I am pleased with is the result of wrapping with wire, which created this really cool hollow form made only of lines; something I always like to incorporate in my art. I think it gives a really neat effect and texture to the surface.