Denizens of the Deep

Every year, during the holiday season, I am graced by the gift and great pleasure of having my niece Jessica Vliet, visit with me for the better part of a week (for the past 2 years, she's come with her lovely boy friend, Joey). It is always among the happiest  times of my year, when she crosses the continent and devotes a more than fair share of her attention to her eccentric, middle aged uncle who loves her so.

Part of her annual trek to NYC is always devoted to cultural outings of one kind or another. This year it was to be the American Museum of Natural History. For me, this hallowed place is by far and away, my very first museum memory. My mother tells me that at the age of 2, I had to be physically extricated from the tibia of a brachiosaurus by a security guard. As I clung to the giant, ancient leg bone, not wanting to be removed from it, I proclaimed " But, I love this dinosaur! I love this dinosaur!

This year the "Halls of Oceans" inspired me to take more shots of it than any other hall.
It's dark and eerie. Veiled in the deepest, azure shades, rippling rays of light breaking through the ocean's surface are projected from the floor to the soaring ceiling, from which hangs a 100 foot long, Fiberglass Blue Whale.

The denizen's of these displays are all so masterfully executed from the meekest to the most menacing. The above composite is an image I've recognize in my head for more years than I will count, so many memorable monsters in a single pane, strangely cooperating rather than eating each other.

Sculpture Chair 4

One of the most rewarding aspects of creating abstract compositions is free association. As I assembled this image I thought about banyon roots and tangled forests and what mysteries may lurk beneath and behind the bark clad bars and beams. I found myself drifting through medieval notions of folklore's irrational fears and Hieronymus Bosh's garden of earthly delights. The skewed matrix of limbs and branches became tendrils and then nerves bundles, steering me toward pharmaceutical illustrations and animations of neuro path ways and the "Incredible Journey". The nerves became columns merging seamlessly into groinless vaults and, as they did I found it reflexively natural to imagine this setting populated by people and creatures. I could almost hear musical strains, wafting and swelling through one oval opening only to be pulled through another and then gently diminished. There is so much strange dreaming in such an abstraction, especially when one considers, at it's heart, the sole component in this image is only a chair. For more photos of this in a more easily understood context please click HERE.

Poster Chair

These hand carved prototypes were created to explore the manufacturing costs of producing a fairly large volume art chair design. Poster chair was born from the challenge of how to completely change the look of a piece of furniture so that it matches any given decor in as little time as possible. The design utilizes reversible vinyl graphics that easily slide into an integrated track. I felt that as long as the poster area was kept to a universal size, the chair could be any shape beyond the seating plane. The subject matter possibilities from a graphic stand point are pretty much limitless. The chair may easily accommodate fabrics, wall coverings and carpet remnants. In order to keep costs down, These prototypes were created as child size versions or, approximately 1/4 the mass and material required for the adult version. The finished chair would be produced in roto-cast polyethylene, an extremely tough, color fast, light weight resin used largely in farm equipment and children's play sets.

Not the Chrysler Building 3d model and SLS out put

This 3d model and rapid prototype were produced for a display. The finished output stands 34" tall. The photo above is the SLS out put. Every window is opened so that light may pass through them. The client wanted a building that would emulated or be equated with the Chrysler Building without it actually being the Chrysler building, as the Chrysler Building is trade marked. The client was most emphatic in their ordering that there should be no gargoyles for the above stated reason.

As I built the model I thought, how far does one have to modify a building till it's not technically that building any more. The Chrysler building doesn't have trade marks on all buildings with gargoyles. I would imagine that as long as the gargoyles were motifed in a way other than winged wheels or eagle heads I'd be on safe ground but, I made no argument in that regard, the rest of the model presented challenges enough.

In these following illustrations I've changed the building till it bends over backwards to scratch an itch while it screws and twists like a length of liquorish. There is no fear of trade mark infringement here. As I began building these acute deformations I dreamt a whole city. Placing the re-imagined buildings together seems to create a conversation. In studying the composition, I found myself thinking about old, moody religious paintings in which Christ is central, surrounded by the  different attitudes and expressions of every other character sharing the canvas with him. In answering the question, how far can one modify a building, it's fair to say that a building, in this application can be twisted till it's most vertical planes are pushed to such extreme, horizontal lengths that the building can surround it's self with great spiralling concentric rings composed solely from it's lower floors.

Gears and Frank Gehry's

Sonia had been out on her own for a couple of years. My place had changed substantially in her absence but, as is so often a blessing and the case, the chick returns to the nest. Sonia was moving back home. One of the first things that crossed my mind was, where will I put all of her stuff. Every available cubic inch was already occupied with either an object or allocated to a  purpose. The answer presented it's self in the middle of my living room. The old purple, peanut shaped, polka doted Coffee table had to go. The space it occupied would now be re-purposed as prime storage area, a relative gold standard, rare and precious in the East Village of NYC. More than a purple, peanut, I needed a 5' long foot locker with a hinged top. It couldn't just be a boring box. It would have to be interesting. There had to be a kink to it. I also wanted  the box to appear longer than it actually would be by forcing it's perspective thus necessitating that the furthest end of the top would have to be narrower. The design gauntlet had been dropped.                                                                    

My brother in law had constructed an intriguingly dramatic coffee table out of an assortment of unrelated gears and odd machine parts that he had stoutly welded together. By all standards of known masculine measure, it was a very heavy, rustic, man table. Some what less than enormously practical and certainly not conceived with the hope of conserving space or being filled with a young woman's clothing but, I liked it a lot. I wanted some of that table's atmospheric elements and, spirit but, I wanted something a bit more urbane, a top design that echoed a message about the city, a sublimated skyline fantasy of sorts. Frank Gehry sprang to mind. NYC. is lucky enough to have 2 of his incredible buildings now. One is as outrageous and out side of the box as the other. I thought, what would a whole skyline of Frank Gehry's look like? I envisioned a great expanse of shimmering, billowing, irrational, titanium ribbons rising like blades of grass, bending in the breezes. Gears returned to my mind as an allegory for the city's inner workings, a megalopolis machination of whirring clock mechanisms and meshing cogs seen through the metallic, twisting sheets as if they were made of glass. As I combined these elements, I began to realize a similarity between the overall effect of the composition and the modernist cubism of Francis Picabia. I also recognized that the image was developing a kind of rhythmic, kinetic kinship to Marchel  Duchamp's more painterly efforts. The project began as a coffee table but, in actuality, it was now as much about designing an elaborate mural as it was about finding another 10 or so additional cubic feet of storage.

As coincidence would have it, I found a great shot of one of Damien Hirst's giant polka dot paintings
and, as my new image was intended to replace what had once been polka dotted, I placed a cropped version of my composition over his and, for the first time had the pleasure of seeing the image fill a heroic viewing field and work with in a large gallery or museum context.

If you've ever been to a freak show in a traveling carnival, you may have seen the torso girl. The poor and woefully truncated creature is usually perched on top of a table in a room which has straw strewn about the floor as it would be in an animals cage. She seems to be missing her body from her belly button on down. In truth, she's a perfectly whole girl, sitting on a chair inside of a mirrored box that is reflecting the straw on the floor. The upper portions of her body poke up though a hole in the middle of the top of the box which is not mirrored. As such, she seems to sit on a spindle legged table with no lower body beneath her. The spindle legs have a 45 degree wedge cut from their length so that they may fit perfectly over the corners of the mirrored box, hiding not only the edges of the mirrors but, also reflecting the spindles as if they were still whole. The sharp contrast between the crispness of the reflected table legs and the haphazard textures reflected by the straw work together in superb unison and further fool the eye. At first glance, it's a convincing illusion. In the spirit of freak show Tom foolery, I employed mirrors to reflect the carpet in the hope that the rest of the table would be visually mitigated and create the illusion of a floating top while hiding a hundred pounds of my daughter's clothing beneath it.

Statue of Liberty, 3d Model and SLS Output

This 3d model and rapid prototype were produced for a display. The finished output stands 32" tall. It took 3 and half days (very, very, long days) to model in total. A week after I had sent the .stl files to my vendor, I was holding the finished object in my hands.

It's not an exact copy, to pull that off would take twice the time and as pun would have it, certain liberties would still have to be taken. For this project, Lady Liberty needed to be simplified and softened. She needed to be immediately identifiable but, she also needed to be less severe and seem a little more happy to see you. As the original stands, she's a bit of a frowny, pouty girl.The torch and the base had to be similarly considered and handled as the object in it's whole  needed to match the other components in the scene.

Framed Fragments

The first pieces in this cycle will involve life castings of figures, staged within frames that are designed and constructed specifically for predetermined poses. No two should ever be the same. There should be a gentle intimacy that molding of this weight has never known before. As figures span the inner holds of their yielding frames, a parallel is drawn between them and how the Hellenistic order of columns seem to bulge under the weight of their entablatures. Ultimately, it is my goal to learn how to sculpt and design objects entirely in the computer.

Joan Miro's Moon Bird

Moon Bird is one of my earliest childhood art memories. When I was 4 or 5 years old, my mother would take me to the MOMA and let me climb all over it. It really is such a playful shape. It's almost balloon like, an inflatable in bronze, cool, smooth and very friendly. Graphically, it's an enormously, strong shape composed of convergent arches and crescents. I set out to recreate the sculpture from photographs in Zbrush. When the model was finished I had the need to see what a couple of my favorite Miro paintings would look like reflected into it. I was delighted with the results. Birds and wonderful creatures dance and stretch, sweeping through rippling waves of undulating forms. As seen in these photo composites, many stills from this  animation experiment would serve well in the filling of large canvases.

Sonia with Eyes Opened

The breadth of characteristic information held by a resting face is hard to imagine until the eyes are opened. It becomes apparent how relative and connected each feature is to the other in this delicate ballet that we call facial expression. The only features on Sonia’s face  that I changed were her eyes and all of a sudden there’s new significance to the corner of her mouth , the weight of her cheek or, angle of her brow. Perspective and light further the awakening and change the expressions with every turn. Her face seems to  express changing notions at every angle.                                                                                                 

For more on this piece please click HERE. For photos of the original with eyes closed please click HERE.

Party at the Plaza

VanWyck is an amazing event and party planning company. The parties, events and weddings that they are most known for are lavish and exquisite beyond most imaginations.
They came to me in need of a dozen classical statues but, they needed them within a month for the event. Sculpting a project of this scope would take a bit more time than that.
In fact, even if digitally modeled and out put through a carving robot, it could take the better part of 6 months and the costs would be prohibitively expensive for this kind of application.
Fortunately, being a sculptor for so many years, I have my sources. All of the statues in these photos are very sturdy Fiberglass reproductions. While they are not quite museum quality in all of their surfaces and details, they are all still very good and served splendidly for this event in one of the most opulent rooms in New York City.

3d Oscar

It seems that almost every year I bid on an Oscar project or 2. I've never landed one though. It's true what they say, the Oscar is illusive. The issues have always been more about time frame than budget. The Oscar is a deceivingly complicated sculpt in that, beyond the figure it's self, all of the shapes and surfaces are highly developed and polished. As it's so well know, there is no room for interpretation. It has to be spot on, which is never cheap and speedy.                                                                                            

In my quest to become proficient in 3d modeling I often choose subject mater that is either based on past analog projects or something with a marketable potential. Now that this model exists, the next time an Oscar job arises, time will be a much lesser issue in that all of the most difficult work has already been done. Over sized copies can be milled out of foam in various densities by carving robots. Actual size versions could be rapid prototyped in a number of material from plastics to bronze. Miniature could be printed in silver or gold. An Oscar could even be carved out of marble, remarkably, all from this one model.

As I pondered how many ways Oscar could be reproduced, I considered how many times he actually has. It must be thousands. Strangely, in the illustration below, they all seem to be leaning a bit to the left.

Deco Parallel

At first glance, one might be hard pressed to guess that this was a video cabinet but, it is. It was a wonderful design full of tangents and transitions. Every time I looked at it, it reminded me of the paintings of Tamara De Lempika and certain details of Rockefeller Center. It doesn't get more deco than that.

                                                                                              

All of my abstract compositions are conceived as large scale works. They are all designed to answer the question: What would the piece look like commanding a space by filling a large wall and what new environment will be the result. In this it is my intention to create an image that can be visually climbed into, somewhere between architecture and landscape. Photo compositions like the one above quickly answer that question.

The video cabinet held 2 monitors for a window display. the cabinet was made from I lbs. density Styrofoam and then skim coated with joint compound as seen in these photos. The form was then coated with urethane resin before being delivered to the client.

For more on this series please click HERE

Sadie's Loft

One of the great challenges of living in New York City, if you're not completely flush with cash, is fitting your life into a little room. Fortunately, in the East Village, where Square feet are at a premium, cubic footage in the way of tall ceilings seems to abound. In that this spacial transformation was made possible.

By dividing the space vertically, a 96 square foot room gains 64 square feet or, roughly, 2/3s it's usable space. While it's true that the stairs take up 18 square feet of floor space, it also serves as storage  to be fully utilized. In it's double purpose there is no loss.

Opening up a Space

In the good old days I would have built a foam core model on top of a xerox copy of the floor plan. Sometimes, it's nice to say goodbye to the good old days. In this illustration the floor plan was brought into Sketchup, where only selected walls needed to be erected and in so doing the space is opened up and easily pre-visualized.

By removing the closet in the middle of the apartment and opening up the kitchen to the rest of the living space, what was once a very dark and closed off entrance has now become opened and airy and gives full view to day light and the unit's furthest lengths.
I originally want to use the intro to the Who's Baba O'Reily for the sound track but, had little success in piecing it together with out flaws. Instead, I took the very beginning of it and created a loop. I then added classical loops of clarinet, flute, viola and the like over a strong but simple base line. This is also the first time that I've composed a piece in Garage Band without accompanying drums and percussion. Being a drummer it was hard to resist but, I must admit that I'm pleased with the overall effect as we walk though the re-imagined space.

Snoopy to Abstraction

This post is dedicated to a series of extremely abstract images derived solely from this very silly Snoopy sculpt, shot in natural light. Much of the work that I've done though out the entirety of my career has been commercial in nature, a lot of cartoony sort of stuff but, that is not to say compromised sort of stuff. It has long been my feeling that a shape is a shape, regardless of what part it may play in the whole or, for that matter, what the whole may in fact be. All shapes have similar needs and properties. They all concern surfaces and parameters. As they become more complex, they bend to their transitions and relationships, regardless of their infinite applications. I take great pride in how I handle my shapes. To paraphrase Michelangelo: Shapes are the lantern by which all images exist. Above and beyond that, for me, it’s about poetry and the harmony of numbers singing their volumes as they dance, roll, collide and merge. Beyond our finger tips,They are born in our eyes as light traverses every bump and valley, every crease and swell, every compounded curve or, flatted plane. Within the human form and it’s situations, there are enough shapes to build a universe. I am able to speak through my art because the nature of shapes has been my language.

For more on this series, please click HERE

Time Tapestry

This was designed to be a table top mural. I know that that may sound like an oxy-moron but, in my mind, the design should work on both levels. As a table top, it needs a confluencey and compactness. As a mural it needed to represent a theme that not only captivates from end to end but also, one that could be broken down into many compositions with in the overall composition. I've always held a fascination with clock gears. They somehow seem to me, to symbolize my first notions of inner workings. In this day and age of digital everything, old school clockworks move ever closer to being relegated to the realm of crusty funk. With that feeling in hand and a recently down loaded new arsenal of "Grunge Brushes" for Photoshop, I was ready to attack the idea. In this exercise I was able to  apply some of the most distressed textures and surfaces to some of the most pristinely cut and crafted machinations that I could find. In the end, as it turned out, polished brass and crisply faceted jewels can make perfectly compatible bedfellows with pealing paint, grunge and grime.                                              

As I was designing this I had happened upon a Chuck Close exhibit that employed enormous photographic portraiture, a Chuck Close trademark but, this time rather than paintings, the gallery was hung with tapestries, a very impressive effect to be sure but, a technology that I'd become familiar with from the last photography expo that I had attended at Jacob Javits Center. It's really no more than a printing process. A photo is uploaded at one end, so to speak, and tapestry comes out the other. In sted of ink jets, a digitaly opperated loom is employed. This tech is mostly marketed to appeal to those whom may like a favorite photo woven into a pillow, a hand bag or perhaps a throw for ones sofa. It was nice to see Mr. Close taking it to monumental applications.

After having seen the throws, I thought that if I figured out the yardage required to upholster my sofa, it might make an interesting pattern but this composition is largely a grunge study, I thought that my new sofa/work bench/storage cabinet might not be the best suited canvass for a collection of greasy gears.

On the other hand, leaving the idea that would yield a grimy looking new sofa, I returned to the technologies application for large picture and mural making. In that, I thought, what would this subject matter look like in as Serene and contemplative a setting as possible. Rothko's Temple sprang to mind.

the illustration below pre-visualizes the concept quite well.

For more on this fascinating technology please click HERE and HERE

Container home

I was asked to design a variation of a container home. More specifically, a 40' container was to serve as a garage with a deck on top to support what would essentially be a Master bedroom suite with an attached green house. As is always the case with designing a house, especially a small one, the first criteria is budgetary. The structure had to be unique, luxurious,  efficient and ready to live in for somewhere near the $60 mark (no doubt a bit over). It was an intriguing challenge through which much was learned.

A brand new container can be had for as little as $5,000. and even less, if used and or refurbished, I set out to design the bedroom as an ISP construction and the green house as kit. The house had to be modern and green, IE. solar panels and radiant heat but, it also had to be in keeping with the surrounding traditional architecture so as to not jar neighbors eye balls.

After down loading a model of a 40' container and the cars that would go in to it, a 69 Camaro and a 63 Chevy truck, I came to realize that doors in the side of the container would be necessary in order to get out of the vehicles comfortably. It was concluded that it was too much of a rigmarole and a more traditional 2 car garage, sans green house would be decided on instead.

A kiss on the hand...

This is a manikin that I had built for Marilyn Monroe's very famous, "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" dress. It's a seemingly simple project that fought me every step of the way. It started with a life casting from a very lovely figure that was unfortunately incorrect in almost every dimension but, that was hardly the most vexing issue.

The real problem arose from the humidity that day and in fact, month. There seemed to be more water in the air than air it's self. As a result the plaster bandage mold pretty much disintegrated while being transported back to the studio. I did what I could to repair it but, it was disastrously damaged. After a weeks drying time, I cast a figure from it that was fairly terrible and served as little more than a bit of meat on the armature. Everything would have to be completely re-sculpted.

Once the dress fit, the figure was re-molded and cast in "Shell Shock", a super strong urethane resin. Despite all of the above mentioned calamity, the pose was preserved and the piece is quite lovely.

Jean Arp Reflected in Jean Arp

I've alway had a keen interest in abstact sculpture. When it's at it's best, it moves me as much as a beautiful figure group. I've known of Jean Arp since I was a young child visiting the MOMA with my mom. There always seems to be a distillation of form in his work, languid and sweeping and best in my mind as pollished stone.

In this study I set out to learn a couple of things. Firstly, how difficult would it be to sculpt some of favorite modern sculptures in Zbrush. Everyone working in this program seems to go after classical statues. In my searching, I found no examples of more modern works being paid such homage. In that, I felt that it was a perfect opportunity to give it a shot and see if I could find something new.

Secondly, I needed a lesson in reflection mapping. While researching Jean Arp's works, I found many examples not only of his sculptures but, his designs and paintings as well, all playful with a beautiful economy to their design. Though the original piece is polished green granite, it occurred to me that his painting would serve well as a reflection map. I knew that I could count on beautiful distortions as the paintings wrap themselves around forms that they were never meant to. In the animation, the distortions never stop.

My Time with Macy's Parade Studio

Macy’s Thanksgiving day Parade studio represents a pivotal point in my art career.     It was the first time that I had been exposed to a studio that could fabricate just about anything.What ever material, what ever the genre, all of it gigantic, all  of it robust enough to withstand 100 dancers dancing as the float ran down its route.One of the great motto's there was “Every thing must withstand cannon fire!” That and “consider all metal to be hot”. Architectural element telescoped in and out or, craned together. Everything folded up into tidy little packages small enough to get through the Lincoln tunnel.Every float was essentially theater in the round and every helium inflatable as big as a building. I was hired as a carpenter in  my first season back in 1987. By the first month of the following year the studios chief sculptor left when she found out she was going to be a mom. Her assistant left for a different gig and I got moved into the sculpture studio. It was trial by fire but, I turned out to be an over achiever. 12 years would follow in which I learned almost everything I could: welding, all manners of metal work, armature construction both static and jointed for animation, electro-mechanical animation,Fiberglass, mold making, model making, foam carving, mechanical drawing, making presentation drawings, concept sketches, ridiculously complicated wood work, balloon and float design, 2 very specialized fields unto themselves. I was also the right hand assistant to the legendary parade designer, Manfred Bass. He was in the habit of pushing me very, very hard but, in so doing, he opened my eyes and over those years, taught me how to build  anything that was demanded of me. He taught me a lot about being a parent as well. To Manfred, nothing was more manifestly precious than his offspring. It is much by his example that I consider myself a really good dad. For a fella, there is no better thing to be.

Another interesting aspect of working with Macy’s was the amount of different major studios that I would be involved with. We did floats and balloons for so many major names:

MGM, Warner Brothers, Ablin, Pixar, Disney, Jim Henson Studios, United Artists, HBO, Marvel Comics, Fox, Scholastic, Nickelodeon, Met Life, Sega, Animal Planet, Aol, Family Channel, Days Inn, American Express, The New York Daily News, Planters Peanuts, M&M’s, NBC,

I’ve worked on Big Bird, Bart Simpson, Bugs Bunny, The Cat in the Hat, The Rug Rats, Snoopy and Woodstock, Barney and Blues Clues, I had a hand in building a Thai palace for The King and I, I’ve built more crazy things there than I can list.

As I had become a fairly cracker jack welder, in the summers I would spend time out on the barges doing structural welding and rigging for 4th of July fire works show on New York's East River. It’s a whole other thing to see when your standing directly under the shower of scattering sparks and falling debris as the barge’s deck rumbles like thunder beneath your feet and through your bones till the fire show's most bass profundo concussions rattle your ribs like a rock show.

Despite all of this seeming artistic splendor, after a dozen years I felt a need to explore different artistic paths. I had learned so much there but, there were things that I was hungry to learn beyond the Parade Studio's scope. I wanted to do serious, life sized figures. I wanted to learn an art form fit for museums and the fine art world.

For more Floats and Balloons click HERE

Ice Cream that you can sit on

In this illustration the models were not only used as a pre-visual, they served as the parametric files for the robotically carved prototypes of the Gummy Bear and Ice Cream Cone Bar Stool. The table, floor and wall were modeled and poly painted in Zbrush as well, as such they too can be rotated, animated, carved, printed and exist in actual space. 

There is a certain luxury for both me as the sculptor and my client, to see almost exactly what the prototype will look like before it's milled in foam. I added a little grain in Photoshop to mimic the approximate surface of the foam. It's hard to tell at first glance, which is which. For more on this project click HERE.