Grace Hwang
Forgotten
Prompt: The prompt for this project is Built Metropolis. It focuses on us, the class, exploring NYC’s architecture styles and portraying some of them through visiting the buildings in person, depicting the buildings in our own perspective, and using air-dry clay as our medium.
My piece was based on the 2 Fifth Avenue Building, near Washington Square Park. I originally planned to create this building in a more simple yet detailed way, but then I changed my concept once I started to sculpt my building. I changed my concept to creating a building that portrays a story. To do this, I decided to create a deteriorating building with plants coming out of it on one side while the other side of the building was left “untouched”. To create the texture and feeling of the plants and the deteriorating part of the building, I used my actual nails and scratched at the sculpture once I finished sculpting the whole building. After I was completely done with sculpting the building, I painted the building with multiple layers of acrylics to create more texture. Doing this project taught me how making a building out of clay can still tell a story and adding more texture will further expand the story and make the sculpture more alive. I also love how you can make the building have more texture by applying basically anything, including using your own hands/nails.
