object maker
The sculptures in How?Now. are comprised of clay pieces cast from molds of larger plastic horses. The mismatched and broken parts are constructed into crude, hollow facsimiles. Sometimes they barely hold together despite being mended with band aid-like strips of clay, rubber-bands or tape. The fragmented forms sit upon tall plinths made of foam, plywood and plaster. These false monuments are held up for inspection by spindly, makeshift perches, throwing into question who we put on pedestals and why.
Ironic, humorous, juxtaposed and repurposed kitsch, they depict the plaintive soliloquies of soldiers who have lost their cavalry and can no longer find their way to the front.
2019
left: 68 x 24 x 13 in.
middle: 48 x 16 x 14 in.
right: 96 x 24 x 24 in.
Plastic horses, air-dry clay, polystyrene foam, wood,tape,acrylic foam sealant, acrylic mediums and clay
2019
68 x 24 x 13 in.
plastic horse, duct tape, electricians tape, polystyrene foam, wood, acrylic mediums and clay
2019
48 x 16 x 14 in.
air-dry clay, string, found wood lazy-susan, wood, duct tape
2019
73 x 16 x 14 in.
cast air-dry clay, electricians tape, polystyrene foam, wood, plaster, acrylic mediums and clay
2019
left: 64 x 14 x 12 in.
right: 66 x 12 x 12 in.
2 old wood columns, cast air-dry clay, electricians tape, rubber bands, polystyrene foam, acrylic mediums
2019
65 x 9 x 9 in.
plastic horse legs, rubber toes, tinker-toys, polystyrene foam, epoxy putty, wood, plaster
2019
2019
12 x 11 x 3 in.
cast air-dry clay, tinker-toys, acrylic mediums
2019
10 x 6 x 8 in.
wood textured clay covering plastic horse head, electricians tape, rubber bands, wood, acrylic mediums
2019
cast air-dry clay letters, polystyrene foam, screws, acrylic mediums, duct tape
2019
cast and hand formed air-dry clay, wood plaques, wax
2019
cast and hand formed air-dry clay, wood plaques, found ceramic statue of angels, wax
2019
cast and hand formed air-dry clay, string, wax, polystyrene foam, acrylic mediums
2019
hand formed air-dry clay, wax, polystyrene foam, clay, acrylic mediums
Western culture is rife with monuments to war heroes and military leaders. Horse and man merge, united in a symbol of male virility and domination.
The works in The Politics of Fear are decidedly un-monumental. The pieces are not made of gleaming marble, but rather from modest materials: buffed graphite applied onto thrift store plastic horses, nylons and rubber balls. The polished graphite highlights the uneven seams and joints, the textures of the rough nylons and the smooth plastic curves of the animals. The small scale requires a viewer to draw close, therefore limiting the interaction to a very personal experience.
untitled
2018
6” x 7” x 6”
assemblage with powdered graphite
2017
12" x 6" x 7"
assemblage
2017
12" x 6" x 7"
assemblage, graphite
2017
30" x 25" x 15"
assemblage, graphite
2017
30" x 25" x 15"
assemblage, graphite
2017
6" x 9" x 4"
mixed-media assemblage and graphite
2017
21" x 23" x13"
mixed media assemblage with graphite
2017
10" x 5" x 3"
assemblage, graphit
2017
10" x 5" x 3"
assemblage, graphite
2017
11" x 20" x 5"
mixed-media assemblage and graphite
2017
11" x 20" x 5"
mixed-media assemblage and graphite
2017
13" x 14" x 9"
mixed media assemblage
2017
12" x 3" x 4"
mixed media assemblage with graphite
2017
6" x 6" x 3"
assemblage, grpahite
2017
10" x 8" x 6"
mixed-media assemblage and graphite
2017
6" x 4" x 4"
assemblage, graphite
2017
11" x 11" x 4"
assemblage with mixed media
2017
11" x 11" x 4"
assemblage with mixed media
2017
72" x 20" x 19"
mixed-media assemblage, plaster and acrylic mediums
2017
72" x 20" x 19"
mixed-media assemblage, plaster and acrylic mediums
2017
72" x 20" x 19"
mixed-media assemblage, plaster and acrylic mediums
2017
13" x 11.5" x 11.5"
mixed-media assemblage and graphite
2017
13" x 11.5" x 11.5"
mixed-media assemblage and graphite
2017
15" x 12" x 4"
assemblage with mixed media
2017
5.5" x 6" x 3"
mixed-media assemblage and graphite
2017
5" x 8.5" x 4.5"
mixed-media assemblage
2017
6" x 5" x 3"
mixed-media assemblage and graphite
2017
6" x 5" x 3"
mixed-media assemblage and graphite
2017
7" x 5.5" x 4"
mixed-media assemblage and graphite
2017
10" x 10" x 10"
mixed-media assemblage and graphite
2017
6" x 5.5" x 5.5"
mixed-media assemblage and graphite
The work in this series (with the exception of Darwin's Conundrum) combine fragments of broken Pre-Columbian pottery with 20th century mass-produced plastic toy parts. Many of the pieces are a combination of broken Pre-Columbian (Mayan or Nayarit) figures, primarily the torso and/or feet. Others are made with the conical feet from broken tripod bowls of the Chupicuaro culture of southwestern Mexico. (300 to 200 BC) Interestingly many of the clay figures used here were “mass-produced” themselves from molds, rather than modeled.
These "mash-ups" of past and present form a humorous contrast of culture and time, while simultaneously reflecting on Western anxiety in a post-colonial world and the effects of global consumerism. Above all however, they are reflections of our humanness.
left: pre-columbian western Mexico figures. apx. 700-900 a.d. right: Chupicaro tripod bowl, apx. 300-200 b.c.
2016
5" x 2.5" x 2.5"
PreColumbian (Mayan/or Chupicuaro) fragment
toy hat and bowling trophy base
2016
7" x 3" x 3"
PreColumbian (Mayan/or Nayarit) fragment
plastic baseball player
2016
PreColumbian (Mayan/or Nayarit) fragment
5” x 4” x 2.5”
plastic baseball player
2016
PreColumbian (Mayan/or Nayarit) fragment
and plastic doll’s arms
2016
PreColumbian (Mayan/or Chupicuaro) fragment
5.5” x 5” x 4”
plastic toy figure
2016
PreColumbian (Mayan/or Nayarit) fragment
styrofoam pickle and refrigerator magnet
2016
PreColumbian (Mayan/or Chupicuaro) fragment
5” x 4.5” x 3”
plastic toy figure
2016
6” x 3.5” x 3.5”
PreColumbian (Mayan/or Nayarit) fragment
plastic garden Gnome head and droopy things
2016
PreColumbian (Mayan/or Nayarit) fragment and
plastic doll shoes
2016
plastic leopard and styrofoam pickle
2016
3.75” x 2.5” x 3.5”
PreColumbian (Mayan/or Nayarit) fragment and
plastic Barbie purse
2018
3.75" x 3.75" x 3.75"
pre-Columbian fragment, rubber Chihuahua eraser
2018
6" x 6" x 3" each
PreColumbian fragments with 50's plastic Venus de Milo salt and pepper shakers
2018
PreColumbian fragment with oak doll chair
2018
PreColumbian fragment and broken resin reproduction Michelangelo's Pieta
2018
PreColumbian fragment and cheap plastic reproduction of Michelangelo's Pieta
2018
8" x 4" x 4"
PreColumbian fragment, rubber wrestling figure
2018
2.5" x 2.5" x 2.5"
rubber feet on wood
2018
5" x 3" x 3"
PreColumbian fragment, rubber wrestling figure
2018
9" x 5" x 3.5"
PreColumbian fragment, rubber wrestling figure
2018
8" x 2.5" x 2.5"
PreColumbian fragment, rubber wrestling figure
2018
5" x 4" x 2"
PreColumbian fragment, rubber wrestling figure
2018
5.5" x 2.5" x 2.5"
PreColumbian fragment, rubber wrestling figure
2018
5" x 3.5" x 3.5"
PreColumbian fragment, rubber wrestling figure
2018
7" x 2.5" x 2"
PreColumbian fragment, rubber wrestling figure
The installation "PRONK!" is an exuberant contemporary dialog with a 17th-century painting by Adriaen van Utrecht in the tradition of Dutch pronk still lifes (after the verb pronk, meaning to "show off").
Volp, who works in assemblage, combines materials including fake fruit, faux cockatoos, thrift-shop antiques and wood-grained spandex to address the parallels between the “ostentatious display” of commodities during the Dutch Golden Age and today’s conspicuous consumption.
Drawing on her longstanding engagement with the field of visual culture, she began by deconstructing van Utrecht’s painting through close looking to discover the relationships between the image and the viewer, or consumer, finding the narratives signaled by the objects and their arrangement, placement and perspective. The resulting riotously exuberant works humorously comment on the seemingly incongruous elements of the still life, not least of which is the titular live cockatoo (represented by a not particularly lifelike plastic parrot).
-Mary Bucci McCoy
read the full ESSAY BY MARY BUCCI MCCOY
95” x 45” x 41”
Assemblage with stacked tables and faux fruit. Reproduction on canvas of Adriaen van Utrecht Still Life with Game, Vegetables, Fruit and Cockatoo 1650, by permission of the Getty Center
Assemblage with chair, flocked faux fruit and paint spills, Spode plates and parrot lamp disguised as a cockatoo. Reproduction on canvas of Adriaen van Utrecht Still Life with Game, Vegetables, Fruit and Cockatoo 1650, by permission of the Getty Center
Assemblage with wood ring, hooks, chain and the artist' son's old stuffed animals taken apart and reassembled. Reproduction on canvas of Adriaen van Utrecht Still Life with Game, Vegetables, Fruit and Cockatoo 1650, by permission of the Getty Center
Digital Reproduction on canvas by permission of the Getty Museum Center
40" x 21" x 7"
assemblage with faux fruit, fake flowers, ribbon, wood box, plastic IKEA frame on fabric with acrylic mediums.
28" x 50"x 1"
photo transfer on fabrics, vintage decal, and oil mediums on Sintra. Image is a reproduction of Frans Synders' Still Life with Fruit, Dead Game, Vegetables, a Live Monkey, Squirrel and Cat
