Paper Sculptor

www.petercallesen.com/

This artist's work is very ingenious! He proves that sculpture can be made from materials that are normally used for 2-dimensional work.

more Sculpture II

One of the trophies I'm working on...

Mary gettin' some work done.





Cleaning utensils! .... aka toothbrush
Mine had Snoopy on it! :)



Yes... I know...

"The Man" checkin up on us...

"You WISH you were in this class!"




I believe we now have between 22 and 25 trophies assembled/welded.

finished 1

The next step was to cover it with fabric...



and glue it in place.
(Hot glue action shot!)




Now for painting.

BEFORE...


AFTER!


I have to admit I think I went a bit overboard
with the brown... but it works.

COLORES | My Culture My Art | KNME - Sharing one of my favorite artists with my classmates. Bob, will you marry me?

Jonathan Hils at OKCMOA

NEW FRONTIERS | JONATHAN HILS: INTERSECTION

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art presents Jonathan Hils: INTERSECTION, opening September 9, 2010, and continuing through January 3, 2011. The second installment of the NEW FRONTIERS: Series for Contemporary Art, INTERSECTION exhibits a selection of large-scale, hand-wrought automobiles by artist Jonathan Hils. These steel and aluminum sculptures express the artist’s interest in the American phenomena of oversized vehicles and society’s relationship with them.

Hils’ sculpture investigates the place where identity and the mythology of things intersect. He employs an intensive fabrication process that consists of thousands of welds—individually connected and

Jonathan Hils, (American, b. 1970). Right Turn, 2005. Welded and coated steel.

metaphorically interwoven—to create luminous, large-scale representations of objects of American desire. Whether one identifies with automobiles—in this case, SUVs—as status symbols or as expressions of masculinity and power, Hils reconfigures and feminizes them, in part, questioning aspects of contemporary American culture and how we identify with it.

A native of New Hampshire, Hils is an associate professor of sculpture at the University of Oklahoma. He received his BFA from Georgia State University (1997) and his MFA from Tulane University (1999). Before coming to the University of Oklahoma, he served as an adjunct instructor (drawing and sculpture), studio manager, and technician at the College of Charleston School of the Arts in South Carolina. Hils received the 2005 Oklahoma Visual Art Coalition Fellowship (OVAC) for outstanding creative work in the visual arts. His sculpture is included in public and private collections and has been featured in solo and group exhibitions across the U.S.

NEW FRONTIERS: Series for Contemporary Art presents the work of individual contemporary artists and current perspectives in the field. The Series was created to provide a framework for the exchange of ideas between the Mu seum, artists, and the community. NEW FRONTIERS connects the Museum to the international dialogue on contemporary art and emphasize the impor tance of the art-of-our-time as a critical and dynamic part of our daily lives.

Jonathan Hils Bio

A native of New Hampshire, Jonathan W. Hils is an Associate Professor of sculpture at the University of Oklahoma. He received his BFA degree from Georgia State University (1997) and his MFA from Tulane University (1999). Before coming to the University of Oklahoma, Mr. Hils served as an adjunct instructor (drawing and sculpture), studio manager, and technician at the College of Charleston School of the Arts in South Carolina.

The recipient of the 2005 Oklahoma Visual Art Coalition Fellowship (OVAC) for outstanding creative work in the visual arts, Hils’ work is represented in several private and corporate collections including the Hyatt Corporation, Four Seasons, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, and Equity West Partners. He has shown extensively across the U.S. in solo and group exhibitions. He was also selected for a John Michael Kohler Arts Center Arts/Industry artist residency in 2005.

He has been a visiting artist and lecturer at San Jose State University, the University of Wyoming, Appalachian State University, Longwood University, the College of Charleston, Renmin University (China), Wichita State University, and Brevard College.

Interview with Jonathan Hils and OKCMOA Curator Alison Amick.

Exhibition Lecture
Jonathan Hils: INTERSECTION and La Serenissima: Eighteenth-Century Venetian Art from North American Collections featuring Hardy George, Ph.D., and artist Jonathan Hils
Wednesday, September 8, 5:30 pm

Gallery Talk
“Jonathan Hils: INTERSECTION,” featuring artist Jonathan Hils
Thursday, September 30, 6:30 pm

Family Day
Featuring Jonathan Hils: INTERSECTION and La Serenissima: Eighteenth-Century Venetian Art from North American Collections
Saturday, November 6, 12–4 pm

Course
Understanding Contemporary Art, copresented by OKC Downtown College
Tuesdays, October 26-November 30, 5:30-8:30 pm

Corey Urlacher

Corey was an undergrad at Montana State when I was a grad student. He was never under my direct supervision, but we spent a lot (and I mean a lot!) of time in the studio together. This is funny since our work is nothing alike.

http://www.goatusart.com/

His work can seem to be a little dark to the novice viewer and expert viewer alike and it is that dark. He may not want to admit it, but he's actually one of the nicest guys that I have ever worked with (constant Slayer music at high decibels was a problem at some times, but Radiohead was probably was a likewise problem).

He has stuck to his vision and that says a lot! I am proud of his hard work!

Corey was also part of the four man team that created the massive installation entitled "Waste" in the Waller-Yoblonsky Gallery in Bozeman. 3 months of collecting and 13 grueling days of installing, one great opening night, 7 days open to public, and 2 hours to strike. Other contributors were H.J. Mooij, Craig van den Bosch and Aaron Hauck.

All materials were collected from a furniture factory's dumpster in Four Corners, Montana beneath the Spanish Peaks. See more at www.aaronhauck.com

Former student of mine

Briston Trapp - Montana State sculpture student of mine in 2006 - 2007. He's pretty talented. He was a very hard worker and is a very skilled craftsman. I enjoyed seeing him work!

http://www.btsculpture.com/

Wim Delvoye

http://www.wimdelvoye.be/

Belgian sculptor. I find his work to be amazing!

Countdown

6 class periods until Trophies are due. I'd shoot to have them finished in 5 because problems ALWAYS occur. It will take at least 1 class period to clear coat and tag them.

chainsaw carving attachment for angle grinder

King Arthur Tools, Lancelot and Squire chainsaw blades for power carving with an angle grinder.

I purchased one for the class. It is extremely dangerous if not used properly. You can get one from Woodcraft for $44. They fit on almost any 4.5" angle grinder. I have tested it and it is maybe the single greatest tool I have ever used. It is "as advertised" and easily powers through wood. See the video below...

And he's not kidding about the wood chips. I used it for about 5 minutes only and had to wash my hair twice to remove all the pieces. I also went all over campus before I realized I had what probably looked like dinosaur dandruff.

This guy is a hoot too. There is a very politically incorrect statement at the very end.

Sculpture I

The reliefs (that I have seen on the blog) are starting to look great! Keep it up. Critique will be the Thursday after Labor Day September 9th.

On the next relief (high relief) you may use tools other than the carving tools to remove large amounts of material. Drill press, dremel, grinder, etc. The finished products shouldn't show any signs of these tools though. That means that the final piece should look like 100% was carved by hand.

And the 3rd assignment is an "in-the-round" figurative carving. It can be a human or animal. So be thinking of a subject that is doable. Here's a tip, get a block of green floral foam from the craft section at Walmart and make the carving out of it first. That should help you understand your form better before you begin with wood. Knotty wood is especially bad for this assignment. Select Pine is probably the most sensible choice. Poplar from Home Depot is another choice. Or you can use the regular cheap pine if you choose you pieces wisely.

sculpture I

I had to remove some of my original image having cut into them. Having problems making wood look faceted.

Progress photos

First Step - Drawing my relief.  An ancient figure from the Mississippian cultures often referred to as Eagle Man or Bird Man; fitting him in 2010, I call this "Bird Man goes to Starbucks"

Next: transfer image to wood and start the first stages of carving

"Service Learning"

Please keep in mind that you must complete at least 2 "Service Learning" courses in order to graduate. Painting 1 - 4 all have the "SL" distinction. And also, the "SL" stands for Service Learning not "Spanish Language." You do not have to be fluent in Spanish to take Painting or Service Learning courses. Believe it or not, this has been a concern of some students in the past.

Sculpture II work...

Josh welding motorcycle parts together...

'




Eric cooling the parts he just welded together and
a sneak peek at one of the trophies Josh is making.


The first of the nearly finished trophies,
Eric's speedometer trophy.




A motorcycle design made out of a chain by Pamela.



Plans are to MIG weld it into this form,
make another one, and use them as the top pieces
for the 2 big trophies.


So far, I believe we have 12 or 13 trophies assembled/welded...
only 38 or 39 left!

Josh inspecting parts for trophies...

Starting proposal work...

This is an inside shot of the wire frame for the first part of one of my pieces..

It is about 4ft long...

5"x6"x4'

There were 96 of these little spokes I had to

wrap around the wire to secure the shape.

It took about an hour but I got 'em all done!

Next I covered the frame with batting.

I used hot glue to attach it.

Here is an inside shot so you can see the stringy mess...

sorry, no hot glue action shots!

The outside with no stringy mess in sight!

I did finish by gluing that last flap over the opening.

These are just the first two steps...
hopefully I will get the next/last two up soon!

Welding in Sculpture II

Eric using the stick welder to weld the first of the trophies together.

David Smith

David Smith (1906-1965) made a name for himself in many parts of the world for his large-scale abstract metal sculptures. He worked mainly with steel, which he sometimes painted. He created bronze sculptures and small scale sculptures, too. He also drew and painted on paper and panels. His works are displayed in galleries in London, New York, Athens, Rome and are outdoor installations in places as far away as the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Smith was born March 9, 1906 in Decatur, Indiana and grew up in Paulding, Ohio. He studied at Ohio University and the University of Notre Dame, but dropped out of college to become a welder on an automobile production line in South Bend, Indiana. [At left: Zig VII, 1963. Right: Voltri XVII,1963]

In 1927, he joined the Arts Students League of New York where he discovered the works of Picasso, Mondrian, Kandinsky, and the Russian Constructivists, and became friends with Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning, Jan Matulka, and Jackson Pollock.

Profoundly influenced by the welded sculptures of Julio González and of Picasso, Smith started devoting himself entirely to metal sculptures, constructing compositions from steel and "found" scrap material. In the summer of 1929, Smith, along with his then wife Dorothy Dehner, bought a house in Bolton Landing, in upstate New York and won the Logan Medal of the arts.

In 1940, Smith moved permanently to Bolton Landing and created the Terminal Iron Works studio. In the long term, this allowed him to enlarge the size of many of his welded sculptures, moving to installations that increased in size as time passed by. World War II disrupted Smith's supply of metal and reduced the demand for abstract art, leading Smith to draw and paint more than he had previously. Smith painted prolifically throughout most of his career. He created landscapes, cubist abstractions and in the 1960s a series of sprayed pictographs that resemble visual studies for his Cubi sculptures. [At left is Untitled spray enamel on paper, 1954. To the right is Untitled pastel on paper, 1939]

In 1962, the government of Italy invited Smith to create two works for a festival, and gave him free access to an abandoned welding studio in the small town of Voltri, in Liguria. There, finding massive stockpiles of material, Smith decided to switch his plans from stainless steel to steel. The result was his Voltri series: 27 sculptures created in just 30 days.

In 1996, David Smith's daughter, Candida Smith was interviewed about her father and his work by TATE ETC, a European art magazine. She spoke of her father's sculptures being "a response to the outdoors" and calls the "smell of spray paint, grinding cold steel and the sizzle and spit of the welding torch" "cozy and comfortable." She revealed that he spoke of being "an older father" when she and her sister were born and that he would write greetings to her and Rebecca on his sculptures so that after he was gone his art could still speak to them whether in homes or museums. [The sculpture to the left is Portrait of a Young Girl, 1954.]

Smith’s last series consisted of 28 monumental abstract structures, the Cubis. These were composed from geometric cubes and cylinders of varying proportions. The cubis were all made from stainless steel. Smith burnished the steel to a highly reflective surface. He told critic Thomas Hess, “I made them and I polished them in such a way that on a dull day they take on a dull blue, or the color of the sky in the late afternoon sun, the glow, golden like the rays, the colors of nature.

Cubi XXVIII (directly below) sold for $23.8 million, Nov. 9, 2005 at Sotheby’s New York, becoming the most expensive work of contemporary art ever sold at auction.

Smith won a variety of awards and recognitions during his life time. In recognition of his influence on abstract expressionism, he was appointed to the National Council on the Arts by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. However, at the peak of his influence and still working on Cubi, he died in a car crash near Bennington, Vermont on May 23, 1965.

christo & jeanne-claude

My Proposal

For a while now I have been interested in works with exaggerated scale like the works of Claes Oldenburg. I would like to experiment with wire working and exaggerated scale by creating 3 sculptures while utilizing wire and soft materials.

Whitney Focus presents Claes Oldenburg's "Giant BLT"

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Rachael Whiteread