"Morrigan"
2008
Bronze 19" height
My clients were looking to bring to life the Celtic myth of the goddess Morrigan. I was to incorporate important Celtic symbology while still creating a sculpture that could stand on its own merits as well.
She is a shape shifter symbolized in the swirling animals at her feet being a raven, wolf, and eel. At same time she was a procreative goddess as well as one connected to war and death. So armed with spear and militant stance, she still moves in a procreative way.
"Herne"
2009
Plaster with faux bronze patina 19" height
The same clients who commissioned Morrigan wanted a male companion piece. Herne, another Celtic deity, is represented usually as a god that turns himself into a stag during the winter months, sacrificing himself to human hunters to allow them to live through the lean times.
I depicted Herne in typical Celtic hunter garb and position. My research uncovered that Celtic hunters hunted from the ground and waited for the deer to come to them. Herne has spear in hand while holding an amulet, a Celtic object that worked as both currency and jewelry. In his hair the beginning of the transformation to a stag is brought about by the antlers growing in.
"Modern Minute Man"
Plaster with faux bronze patina 8" height
A client had returned from fighting in Iraq and was looking for a way to honor the sacrifice of his brother soldiers in that conflict. He asked me to make a sculpture that brought this idea to fruition. As he was a former Army Ranger I used him as the model for the piece. A soldier in battle garb aims his M4 at a distant enemy while turning his body to the engagement.
"Reclining Woman 1 "
2007
Bronze 10" length x 3" hieght
I came from stone sculpture into modeling in clay. I had a 1000 lb sculpture of a reclining woman I had been working on for a few months and was stuck and frustrated. I came into the studio and started working in clay and loved the process and product so much I never returned to stone. Reclining Woman 1 was a study to fix the problems I was having in stone.
When I finished I was astounded at the response it received. I have made multiple copies of this piece at the insistence of people who want to own her.
"Reclining Woman 2"
Bronze 28" l x 4"h
I wanted to take the concept of the woman at rest and make a larger, more detailed attempt. Less abstract, she lays sleeping, sheets entangled, dreaming.
"Woman in Struggle"
Waxed plaster 12"h
I have been working on a narrative concept that follows a woman through the trials and travails of a relationship. Here, she has bound herself in her own misery struggling for freedom.
"Victory"
Plaster with faux bronze 17h
A simple figure proclaiming exaltation to the world.
"Seasons"
I was walking in the woods with my daughter when she handed me a stick. Here daddy, use it at your studio. She said. So I did. Being a nature-based sculptor, I used the stick to teach me how shapes move, textures, and how shapes join. After about a year of the sticks residency, I was looking for a little side project to help my mind relax. I spied the stick and thought I might as well experiment and sculpt it. So I did. As I worked, I started to think of all the seasons that this stick had seen. I then began to imagine what the stick would look like through those seasons if it could move.
"Winter"
2010, Plaster and oil paint 7" h
My stick is introducing itself to the year, slowly it rises from the snow, waiting for the sun to warm it.
"Spring"
2010, Plaster and oil paint 12" h 2010
The stick is filled with green sap, growing towards the sun.
"Summer"
2010, Plaster and oil paint 12"h
All the verdant juices pump mightily through the stick giving energy back to the earth.
"Fall"
2010, Plaster and oil paint 12h
A year of growth and development. A time to begin to rest. A bow and good-bye.
Religious Icons
I had a client that was investigating a commercial application of religious icons. He asked me to create three dimensional representations of five major world religions. I chose Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.
"Christianity"
2010, Plaster and faux bronze 7"h
I used the Christ figure and the three dimensionality of sculpture to portray two major ideas of the religion. From one view Christ suffers on a cross while on the opposite side he stands in exaltation.
"Islam"
2010, Plaster with faux bronze 5.5"h
I wanted to portray the dynamic nature of the religion so I attempted to make fast, strong shapes showing the clarity and momentum of the creed.
"Judaism"
Here I wrapped the six pointed star of David protecting the Torah scrolls.
"Buddhism"
I wanted a thinner Buddha sitting on the wheel of life. However, the wheel is distorted as the perception of the meditating figure can alter reality.
"Hinduism"
I took the Hindi ooom and spun it around an axis giving the impression of the word beginning and ending continuously.
"The Gift"
2010, Plaster with faux bronze 10h"
This piece portrays one generation giving knowledge to the next. The older figure is worn as a pebble smoothed in a stream while the younger is growing up and out from the earth.
"The Fertility Goddesses"
2010, Plaster and oil paint 10"h
My daughter and I were in the art museum. For the most part her three-year old eyes would scan a piece, pick out what interested her and move on. We entered the African Art section and she stopped dead at the sight of an Ivory Coast wooden carving of a pregnant woman created around 1900.
My daughter was transfixed by the angular shapes of the body and the shear stolid nature of the subject. She turned to me and implored me to make one at the studio. I assured her I would and embarked on the project the next week.
What I found was the African style of art does not call to me. It was an epic failure. I scrapped my attempt at mimicking African art and thought about how I wanted to portray a fertility goddess. She would be big. She would be strong. She would be round. As a nod to older cultures she would have exaggerated sex organs. As I thought about the piece and started to work, the goddesses came about.
While I was polishing the pieces my studio mate stated that they look like the Venus of Willendorf. I googled the subject and I'm pretty happy that my work has such close similarity. I finished the pieces in metallic finishes. One with sharp edges and a sooty appearance as if the goddess had been hard at work with little time for maintenance. The second piece I rounded the sharp edges and gave it a more new look as if already off the assembly line and softened by the experience of pregnancy and birth.
"Regular Root"
2010
Plaster and Oil Paint, 18"
I used the exact dimensions of a root photo, I referenced. I wanted to keep the organic shape of the subject but I finished it in an old iron patina. I was attempting to create an object that looks created by industrial processes but the product to look natural.
"Elongated Root"
Plaster and oil paint 36"h x 8"w
I enjoy the idea of seasonal change. On this piece I used the vertical axis as a color palette for the seasons, towards the bottom of the piece dark colors abound while fall hues dominate the middle and summer like colors crown it. I stretched the dimensions of the original photo by four times as long and twice as wide.
Jack Smith
53 6th Ave, Suite 2
New York, NY 10013
Tel: *1 800 527 8692
Cell: *917 234 5232
Email: mail_jacksmith.com
Thank you for visiting my website. If you want to commission me or if you want to know more about my work, please contact me.
Phone: 513-207-0359
E-Mail: hughessparks_yahoo.com
