#martycrafts

This was one of the last sculpture pieces I made in college. Though I wasn't aware of it at the time, I think I may have subconsciously made this piece to acknowledge the death of my old self and welcome a new era of self discovery and healing.

The body of the piece is cast in foam from a lifecast I made of myself when I was at my lowest point- severely underweight, overworked, and consumed by self hate. The glasses were ones I had worn as a kid, and the hat and shirt were ones that I had worn almost every day up until the day I dressed the sculpture. The hair on the piece is made up of trimmings I had saved from myself when I got the last bit of dyed hair cut out months prior. The wounds on the face mimic one of the last makeup applications I had done on myself during my stay with an abusive employer. The casket around the sculpture is made of old wood from the fence outside my parent's house. All of these aspects of my identity were things that kept me trapped, and the references to places and people I worked for were things that I needed to leave behind.

At the time I presented this piece, I couldn't find a meaning for it. I explained to the class that I just wanted "to make something cool". Looking back on it now, I see that there was much more going on. 2020 was the year I truly pivoted and started trying to seek help.

Now for the real bummer- this piece was displayed once for class, and then sat in the makerspace of my college for a while before we all got sent home for the quarantine. I was unable to retrieve it before we all left. I went back to find it, but it was gone.

I have no idea where this little me went, but its weirdly comforting to think that this old version of myself is out there living a life of its own, separate from me.

I forget exactly what the concept was for this guy, but I think it was some sort of Alien War Prince that went mad and turned into a freaky cave dweller monster. not sure. I was 15.

Nareth's loadout consists of one full face foam latex prosthetic, dental distortions dentures, claws I made by sculpting with foam clay on top of press on acrylic nails, and my first ever EVA armor suit. I believe he had some sewn costume components as well, including the headdress, cape, and undersuit. If I could go back and fix him, I don't think there would be a single thing I'd leave unchanged- but hey, ten years of experience will do that to you.

Here's a 'Stan Winston' shot of the application- believe it or not I was shaking in my boots trying to get this thing on my face! I had neverr done it before!

And here is a (really over edited, thanks baby me) photo of the prosthetic sculpture before any detailing was added. It was done on a default headcast, so it was a biiiiit small for my face. oopsie