Two quick photos of some silicone claw tests I just did. First time doing a two-part mold in plaster, first time working with silicone, I had to slosh cast, I need to now do a whole hand-paw… a lot of firsts this semester!
:)
I’m posting two of my older pieces of work I did my first semester in metals because while I had some thoughts about making wearable artwork for myself, I failed myself a little when I made these. Hopefully in posting them I’ll remember not to do what I did in the past and maybe it will amuse you guys to see me be a conceptual art fail butt. :)
Statement I gave my teachers when I made the Jaw Piece:
Nodding my head to some contemporary fashion icons and mixing my own sense of phantom senses, I produced a hefty jaw bone and fangs. Despite it being non-precious and aggressive, the piece is intended to look elegant and light. The wearer is accentuating their own bone structure and it brings their jaw bone to the surface, as well as permanently bares their fangs. The piece also compliments a long-standing need of mine to have truly ferocious teeth that I feel I possess; this is a reminder that I am an animal and should be viewed as such.
And the claws:
I have always felt that because we as a species are used to the idea that our own hands are soft and we do not posses claws or talons that our hands then are viewed not as weapons but as vehicles for weapons; we are forced to design clothing, objects, and jewelry to otherwise compensate for our lack of protective and defensive arsenal. I modeled a dominant-hand set of claw rings in bronze for the purpose of continuing that tradition and to satisfy my desire to remove myself in ways from social domesticity. They intentionally cover and distort my fingers with bronze, a rustic and ancient metal, and in doing so prevent onlookers from viewing precisely what kind of body language I may have. In arming myself I have removed at least some level of comfort and understanding civilly as I walk around town. This allows me to reclaim a touch of feral human yearnings for safety and the instinct to defend myself through intimidation.
I don’t necessarily agree with everything I said in my statements because I’ve had time to think about them (these are from 2010). I also had to redo the claws because I initially had rabbit fur on the backs of them which made them look more like paw-hands but just didn’t work conceptually at all. Ultimately, I don’t want people to be intimidated by me. I thought I did. After spending time wearing both in public at least once, I hated it. I’d rather find silent ways that I can be myself either in public or not that don’t make me seem scary or friendly. I’d rather keep that private.
I do however want to make wearable work that helps me invoke the canine body and mindset or helps me live through my phantom sensations into something real. The claws are nice in that they give my fingers and hand a weight to them that feels right. They pull on my fingers if I turn my hand in a way that makes my fingers feel pawlike. They fail at being useful as claws and look scarier than is necessary. Most dogs obviously do not have large claws. The claws there are less about “canine” and more about “intimidating and compensation”.
Then of course I ended up wasting a lot of time looking at gauntlet armor and plate armor for the hands and arms and ended up feeling as though metal seems too armor related and too scary. I’m going to have to really consider what materials convey what I want them to and what I actually want the wearable work to do.
I think one of the first challenges I still want to tackle is to give myself a paw hand. One that makes my fingers move the way I want them to and one that gives me tactile sensations that are not cumbersome.
