Artist Statement - Skeleton

When we were first assigned this, I jumped on it and thought I was making good progress until I realized it took me just about a week and a half to make a skull out of newspaper balls in accordance with my original rough draft. Eventually, I actually had to start kickin' my game up and getting started on the structure of the skeleton itself. At first, I felt pretty confident that it was similar enough to actual human anatomy. Then I saw Hannah's and it put me to shame.

Needless to say, this inspired me to try and construct the initial structure closer to human anatomy and I experimented with the cardboard and duct tape, as well as with my handy dandy scissors to try and create a cartoon-like depiction of a skeleton. The shapes (of the bones) I chose to, from then on, piece together my skeleton, were very cartoony and kind of typical in the way that skeletons are perceived and portrayed in modern cultural outlets.

After I finally finished the initial frame and structure for the skeleton, I began to paper mache everything on it. This process definitely took some time, especially at the beginning where I wasn't exactly the best at making paper mache. However, through all the stains on my clothing and dry hands, I learned which texture of paper mache dried and held faster with the newspaper on my skeleton and that seriously helped me out as the deadline quickly approached.

Not until two or three school days ago, was I finally done paper mache-ing and could move on to the painting part of the skeleton. It only took two class periods to finish it all. Thankfully, Mrs. Wheeler hung it up so I could actually get it all done. And with that, my skeleton sculpture was finally done.

I learned several things while making that (huge) skeleton: 1.) paper mache WILL dry your hands so moisturize, 2.) gesso dries fairly faster than white paint and will also cover newspaper better, and 3.) really take into account your own personal height before making a life-size skeleton. Overall, I honestly expected my skeleton to look cooler than what it does and I'm disappointed. It was such a big sculpture to paper mache and then paint that it was beyond overwhelming and I wish I had made a better decision and either made a smaller skeleton or a mask. However, I did pick up some cool new tricks that could help me with future projects I might choose to do.