Labor and Body Sculpture

                          

    Labor and Body, two very similar words in the way that one helps another but for this project they came out in different ways. Labor was present in this project because of how much work I personally devoted to this project. A labor of love is what I reminded myself every time I wanted to give up on this project. This project was created off of another project that I made last semester. It was a 4 foot by 2 foot wooden wing that had carved wings and feathers in it. Despite putting a lot of effort into that first wing, it had more 2D than 3D qualities which motivated me to create a 3D wing. I started this project by using the first wing as a reference by how many feathers I needed. I cut out each individual feather from different wood types, so they are each unique in their own way with their grain and size. I ended up with 187 individual feathers, ranging from small to large. 

Body, a vessel for our souls that allows us to experience the world and seek out adventures. I chose wood to display this element of the body because of how similarly I equate wood to our own human bodies. Wood is similar to humans. We eat, we grow, we reproduce and we die for someone else’s benefit or if we are fortunate enough we live out our full potential. Wood holds a lot of power in its resilience, it goes through storms, fires and yet, it still stands tall. As they grow and flourish they extend the love to others with shade, protection, warmth, etc.  I feel like as humans grow into themselves, they are able to provide similar benefits. As love grows within people that love extends outward. 

The whole idea of wings was created because of a thought that I had, that wings are a spiritual extension of who a person is like an aura. However wings are a fictional attachment to the human body but with historical and fictional imagery one can imagine a world with them. I believe that the project can stand alone with the emotional ramifications attached to it through the imperfections. Not everything is cut perfectly or exactly the same size but they lay cohesively. The emotional alignment between the wing and aura allowed me to see them as an extension of a person. Like the wing, not every part of me is perfect or of the same quality, you can see the struggles or imperfections poking through but it is solid. The wing like my soul has been thrown around with scars to align with it but I continue to power though. All of the different components of life and my experiences make me who I am. every mark pinpoints those events and shows the strength I have to continue on.