Family of Four examines the visual blending of the family matriarch with the other family members. By overlaying images of husband, daughter and son with the mother one is not only able to see the physical resemblances but is able to feel the strength and influence of the strong personality of the matriarch.
The images are hand pulled on to translucent chiffon and layered with the matriarch set in an encaustic background and the top image set off approximately ½”. The layering adds a sense of depth and changes the image depending on the viewer’s vantage point, which also adds to physiological impact the matriarch may have had on the other family members.
People are either totally fascinated or disturbed by my use of pins and needles in my work and very rarely immune . Since I prefer to work with opposites I find these opposing viewpoints are very apt. I believe my work gets its balance both visually and ethereally by using contrasting elements. When you think of a pin it’s a very feminine object, but it’s hard, straight and sharp. Yet, it’s used with fabrics which are soft, flexible and warm.
By far the piece that draws the most attention when it comes to my use of pins is “Pin Point”. Pin Point is a cast beeswax figure draped in wax muslin, carved into and plied with hundreds of straight pins. I think Wes Fortune said it best in the review of “MiniArture”.
“The works of Calgary-based artist Kim Bruce illustrate this point in the most elegant fashion. The former interior designer now full time artist creates sculptures that provoke musings about her state of physical, emotional and spiritual well-being and ultimately, our own.”
Wes LaFortune, ffwd, It’s a small world: Vol 9 No 10, Feb 12, 2004 (PDF)
Pin Point made it into the New York Times when they wrote an article on R & F Handmade (encasutic) Paints at the same time that I was included in a group exhibition at their gallery.
Pin Point will be exhibited in Toronto in the Sculptors Society of Canada’s show this August to Sept 2010.The other pin piece selected for the exhibit is “Pin Head ll” and a non-pin piece “Gangsta” from the All in My Head series. So if you are in Toronto I invite you to stop by. Please see my “Exhibits” page for details.
Here are some other works with pins, needles and safety pins including Pin Head ll.
I just finished this piece the other day. The piece is called “In-Spires”. This is the fourth in the new series called “Off the Wall”.
I know when a idea is worth pursuing when I don’t hem and haw over it; I just start and see where it goes. I start to play; it is exhausting work. My studio becomes a mine field as I pull this or that to see how it relates. Typically I put a few items together and then start the process of visual problem solving.
This series started when I was thinking about wanting to work with new shapes but didn’t want to go through the process of creating the clay sculpture, doing the rubber mold, etc, I just wanted to start working with the final casting. So I hunted around the house looking at my dishes, collection of assorted cool little collectibles, even in the garage all the while gauging the objects usefulness as a form. But it would not due if I cast wax in my favorite antique tea cup so realizing that I need a barrier between the two that hunt began again. I could use a release agent – no to risky, encasutic is a liquid and tends to drip and generally makes a mess. I settled on plastic bags, covers the object and then some and easily releases the wax when solidified.
So the logistics being solved off I go then casting encasutic in my assorted treasured shapes. In-Spires is cast in eggcups and capped with these cool little funnel looking objects that I got from god knows where and have packed around for god knows how many years. I then wrapped them with fine embroidery thread and capped them off with found objects.
