Now that I have an image in mind and I know how many figures I need, the next step is to build the characters. I go through my collection of doll and action figure parts for the right arms/leg/torsos. Since they’re based on these kings of grunge, not only do I have something to base them off of, the rough patched together look will work well for them. Usually what I do is start with the torso and build a simple wire armature to connect the arms/legs/head to. The head is usually the one thing that’s sculpted out of clay to get a pretty close likeness, as close as most action figures get. With these figures I wanted to have all of the pieces moveable and sturdy, forcing me to invest a lot more time into them. I must have spent hours hunched over, trying to attach Weiland’s legs to his body. This allowed me to REALLY get to know them. Knowing generally how the body works is essential in rendering the figure, and in this way of working I’m essentially creating my own anatomy. After they are constructed I slap a couple coats of gesso on them, mix up a batch of action figure orange and paint them. The materials used in making them as well as the dress of the person determines whether or not I’ll paint or make the clothes. With Cornell, since he wore jeans I just patched together a pair for him, but with Weiland, I wanted to give him some pinstriped dress pants and the legs I gave him just happened to have pants with cuffs on them. Plus I really liked how they looked with the wire. You can take artistic liberties you know. Size is important too, since I’m going for an illusionistic depth created in a shallow scene. Cornell, who will be in the foreground, is a lot bigger than Weiland, who will be in the background.
Now why action figures do you ask. Aside from them never moving, I’ve always been interested in the history of an object. I’m a hoarder. You know, one of those people who refuse to throw anything out believing they all have sentimental value. Especially but definitely not limited to things like notes, letters, shopping lists (anything handwritten or handmade), and anything and everything from childhood, and especially objects with comical value or a story attached to it. In the back of my closet is the door to my High School Football locker. I hated playing football, but I think it’s pretty damned hilarious that I have it.
And by using these old toys as models for my paintings, I feel as if I’m incorporating their history and character into the work and they somehow find their way into the paintings. Scouring flea markets, thrift stores and eBay, I feel like I’m collecting memories. And by ripping them apart and putting them back together again with wire, plaster and hot glue, then painting them a generic “action figure orange” they’re transformed into something new, my own creation. With these the whole idea of toys and action figures is a physical representation of the collective unconscious. Everybody generally played with the same toys, but used them in different ways. When I played with my GI Joes I didn’t have them fighting or anything, they were playing football and fixing the roof to my mom’s old dollhouse. I'm a realist at heart. It’s just like painting, everybody uses the same materials, but what you do with them is unique, and the more interesting your voice the more people that will give a shit. You always hear how art reflects life and vice versa, and it’s one of those things that you take for granted and assume is true because it makes so much sense, but then you figure out how it actually applies to you and it really makes sense in a concrete way. And as much as the process means to me I’m going to attempt to work through these ideas and have the paintings represent themselves I guess. This is my attempt at creating paintings that speak directly about the artistic process.
The main characters in this story will be played by the Rock stars who raised my creativity. Since I believe most art to come from a dialogue between the unconscious and consciousness, what better representatives than the characters who rummage around our heads, screaming and at times bellowing their lyrics at us. Meet bizarro Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots. Coming soon: Kurt Cobain and Guns N’ Roses.
"The essence of my creative work is an internal model which is shaped by both conscious and unconscious elements. The impulse coming form the world around (reality) is treated in the unconscious boiler of an internal laboratory to which I have no access. Inspiration is, then, the doorbell to the door of a house which tells me that the internal model is ready and I can come up and collect it. During the course of this process the pre-product emerges into the conscious zone."
-Jan Svankmejer
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