"Monster Heads", 2011 & 2012, Sculpey, glass beads, and acrylic paint mounted on a wood base

"Vampire Trophy" 2011
photography by Seth Benson

   These heads are derivative of trophies one might have after a hunt. Of course they are injected with the same dose of whimsey and satire typically seen in most of my character designs. The initial idea for these stemmed from a sculpting workshop I gave...it  was only to last 3 days so I had to conceive of method that could be rapidly sculpted, fired, and painted. Taxidermy monster heads seemed to be the best fit.

   Each piece was formed over an aluminum foil core; Sculpey(TM) served as the sculptural vehicle. I wanted to include slightly "realistic" eyes because sculpted eyes are often too "lifeless". The vampire's ears were formed over thick cardboard cutouts. I wanted to make him appear older and battle-scarred, so I placed a long fleshy trench down his face over his left eye. His scale is approximately 9" x 12". I mounted him to the stained wood base with Liquid Nails.
   "Glob" is supposed to be the remnant of a viscious/viscous cyclops warrior; I wanted it to appear to be still oozing. His eye, (like the vampire's) has a hole punched deep into the head.  It was painted black prior to firing to give the impression of a pupil. Since the glass is green, I treated it like it was pure iris (no sclera).

"Glob" 2012
photography by Kristina Phillips

   I haven't created a sculptural piece in a while now; but it is time to makes plans to jump back into it again soon.