TACTILE TENTACULAR SCULPTURES

The Brief:

Make a sculpture based on the exploration of alternate realities/bodies.

At first, I planned to make a sculpture that was like a landscape of an alternate reality, inspired by Kusama's rooms and metallics and different fabrics, but as I went on the sculpture developed into a portal/ archway with space flowers growing over it.
The journey to finishing this sculpture was a difficult one, and getting it to be self-supporting was difficult, but I am quite satisfied with the end product as I think it effectively reflects the idea of something that has been taken out of a different dimension or a portal that can be used to see into a alternate reality.

As a class, we then displayed our works together in a collaborative installation. This was my first experience putting together different works to make one cohesive display, and I enjoyed having to talk and work with others to find the most effective and sensible layout.

The group installation was effective due to the different heights the pieces were dislayed at. All og the heights were different making the landscape more interesting, and highlighting everyones work through the contrast. We used a pink light as it complimented the majority of people's work, and highlighted them all equally.

During the crit, people said it looked like something out of a fairy den, that it was romantic and that in a different space the archway could be used as a viewpoint, seeing something through it. It was also said that if I did not want the 'fairy' feel to it, the sculpture could also work if the flowers and ribbon was stripped back, leaving the foil and gaffer tape.

The materials I used to finish this piece were wire, foil, egg cartons, fluff, ribbon. Gaffer tape and cardboard.

The different textures in the sculpture are important to give the plants an 'otherworldly' feel. This was done the most effectively with the foil wire and the fluff, which I think are the least Earthly, but also work well when indicating that they are plants or 'plant-like'.

The Gaffer tape was mostly used because the cardboard archway would not stand up alone, but in the end I think the matte finish to it contrasts well with the metallic foil and feels cohesive for the rest of the sculpture.