Ra Ames
I Feed The Cage I've Outgrown
Class of: 2030
Major: Integrated Design BFA
Medium: sculpture, smooth-on onyx, polyurethane foam
Faculty: Carol Peligian
Prompt: Heads mean many things---they can be cultural, sexual and social identifiers, created as portraits, busts, totems, etc, etc, etc. We talked about the power of a piece expresses by pneuma, the feeling of breath and the internal pressure that creates a tension between what is to be and what is manifested or physically made. The head has a certain fellowship with nature, its perceptive orifices creating a instrument or opportunity in which our own personal human nature and that of the natural or elemental world are in dialogue.
This was a physical ode to mental contention. A delving inward. This bust is a reflection of my internal battles and the strife rendered by these cerebral echoes. This piece was inspired by the feeling of being so in your head that you become disconnected from your body. I wanted to materialize the sensation of bodily tightness from repressed thoughts and chose an unyielding material to articulate this. The rigid mass of foam and distortion encapsulated these unwanted feelings, attempting to surface and pour out. I intend to contend with the stigma of the subconscious in hopes that this piece settles the thoughts of isolation in the viewer.