Kelly Su

The Lovers

Class of: 2027

Major: Illustration BFA

Medium: Sculpture: Foam Clay, Galvanized Steel Wire

Faculty: Todd Ayoung

Prompt: Build a wire shoe based on one of your current shoes, then add an architectural or sculptural element onto it.

Wire high heel depicting two lovers on a grassy hillside, descending from clay hot-air balloons. Painted with acrylic.

The foam clay’s soft, rounded texture lent well to the peaceful and child-like joy in the scene, and the use of pastel colors emphasizes the romantic and beautiful set.

Idyllic, pastoral scenes in media are romanticized, depicted as scenes of longing, nostalgia, joy, and peace. I wanted to capture that essence in this project: two lovers, descending from hot-air balloons, the girl running to the boy up a grassy hill as he prepares to touch the ground, leaning over the hot-air balloon’s basket in anticipation of his beloved.

In a stroke of comedy and a subversion of my expectations, I created the scene to look as if the two lovers are about to meet again. However, given the dynamic of the scene, it may also be interpreted as two lovers parting.