This is one of my favorites of the ceramic heads I've looked at. It's from West Africa (present day Nigeria), made between 1200 and 1400 C.E. It's an example of a "Shrine Head" which would have been placed on a tomb, and is a realistic depiction of the person buried there. I like the rich subtlety and realism, but also the simplicity. It depicts a human face accurately, but without any extraneous detail. I think the expression on the face is moving, and it feels like looking into the eyes of someone who lived 800 years ago.
I like this head because of the way that it plays with and questions the line that we tend to arbitrarily draw between humans and nature. I also like the slightly grotesque quality to it. Tree branches are an image of life, but in this piece they seem slightly disturbing. Which I think really highlights the bizarre and unsteady relationship that humans have with nature.
I just like this one. It's big and playful and stunning. It's larger than a person. I've seen this piece in person in Indianapolis. It's also public art, so anyone walking through the park can enjoy it. It's exciting to know that you can use ceramics to make large scale outdoor artwork.
This is one of my favorites of the ceramic heads I've looked at. It's from West Africa (present day Nigeria), made between 1200 and 1400 C.E. It's an example of a "Shrine Head" which would have been placed on a tomb, and is a realistic depiction of the person buried there. I like the rich subtlety and realism, but also the simplicity. It depicts a human face accurately, but without any extraneous detail. I think the expression on the face is moving, and it feels like looking into the eyes of someone who lived 800 years ago.
I like this head because of the way that it plays with and questions the line that we tend to arbitrarily draw between humans and nature. I also like the slightly grotesque quality to it. Tree branches are an image of life, but in this piece they seem slightly disturbing. Which I think really highlights the bizarre and unsteady relationship that humans have with nature. 
I just like this one. It's big and playful and stunning. It's larger than a person. I've seen this piece in person in Indianapolis. It's also public art, so anyone walking through the park can enjoy it. It's exciting to know that you can use ceramics to make large scale outdoor artwork.
the third one is pretty interesting...It makes you kinda wonder what point exactly the artist was trying to make while designing it!
ReplyDeleteI like the 2nd one best, however they are all really beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you; the unusual composition of nature/human is unsettling at first glance(s) but I think the artist did a wonderful job of combining the two