Monday, May 2, 2011

Artist 1: Emil Alzamora.

Proportional yet heavily distorted.
I was initially drawn to Emil's work by the stunning accuracy of his figures. While most certainly breaking the traditional canon of proportions through exaggeration, Alzamora's sculptures retain enough proportional imagery to reach that uncanny valley of hyper-realistic eeriness.


Furthermore, by intentionally breaking realism, Alzamora elicits an absurd, almost surreal emotional response from the viewer. Certainly, this deliberate use of exaggeration creates an uncomfortable aura of the strange. Additionally, by solely utilizing figure, Emil directs our attention to matters of which all humans may relate.





Emil Alzamora
According to his artist statement, his interests are concerned with the human form and what it means to inhabit one. He further states that he distorts the figure primarily in order to reveal emotional and physical situations. Certainly, this needs no further explanation. Ultimately, his work is noticeably primal in concept yet seemingly Bernini-esque in execution.


While not a direct influence for my ceramics pieces, seeing his work now makes me realize how much I was simply following in his footsteps (albeit with far less technical skill!)

Examples of my relevant ceramics pieces are here.









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1 comment:

  1. AristeiaMay 2, 2011 at 10:45 PM

    Although a lot of his pieces are reminiscent of yours, I think your Ceramics pieces are more detailed and emotional. Most of Alzamora's sculptures are more abstract and their faces are not as detailed and offer a more otherworldly expression. But strangely, some of them are actually calming. (Others are very painful to look at)

    I think I may have seen one sculpture of a woman that seemed pretty proportional AND exaggerated. But in any case, I find the hybrid pieces most creepy.

    I know he said that he's trying to depict what it means to have human form, but I wonder what each sculpture means? I guess that's up to the viewer to decide?

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