Deformed Head

Super Sculpey

This is a piece of work in development. I started it by looking at illness and deformity. I became really interested in the structure of deformed faces through looking at war veterans who had suffered facial injuries and people that had illnesses that caused their deformities, such as Joseph Merrick (The Elephant Man). I wanted to make a deformed head that had a lifelike quality to it to suggest to the viewer the fragility of the body and the vulnerability of it. I wanted to create a reminder of the weakness of the body (illness) and the cyclical nature of life. After making a head out of super sculpey, then clay, then silicone and lastly wax, I found that I liked super sculpey the best. However, I was not happy with the piece as I felt that the head seemed unfinished and did not convey to the viewer my concept enough. One of my inspirations was Louise Bourgeois’s sculptures which always feel very dramatic. This is what I feel the head, shown in this picture, is lacking. I have now decided to continue to use super sculpey, but instead create a deformed baby.

 

Done