Caila Grigsby

Figurative Busts

King of the World and Suffocation

Left Sculpture: wood, paint, air-dry clay, chalk pastels, black ink, gold leaf, and rhinestones.
11.5" x 5" x 3.5"
Right Sculpture: wood, paint, ink, air-dry clay, and plastic.
6" x 5" x 5"

This sculpture, entitled King of the World, is rooted in the social issue of animal rights by showing the role reversal between animals and humans. I chose the Javan Rhinoceros because they are one of the many animals classified as “critically endangered” with only “58-61 individuals left”. Like elephants, they are endangered because of habitat loss and hunting for their body parts, known as trophy hunting. Trophy hunting was my focus on this piece among the many issues related to animal rights because of the way I wanted to design the Rhinoceros showing the reversal of power over people. Trophy hunting has been narrowed down to the “Big Five: the lion, elephant, leopard, rhinoceros (both black and white), and Cape buffalo.”, all of which are already in crisis. Once an animal is killed the hunter(s) will pose with the animal, often featuring the bust of the animal with the most valuable parts. I designed the Rhinoceros bust in a way that kept the focus on the horn, which I painted with ivory metallic paint, and the addition of a gold crown with gems showing his power. The Rhinoceros is not holding the people, but their shadows are dominated by the looming bust of the Rhinoceros.

Javan Rhinoceros - Facts, Diet & Habitat Information (animalcorner.org)

This article discusses the overall lifestyle of the Javan Rhinoceros, their history, and major threats to their species.

What's Wrong with Trophy Hunting? | Born Free USA

This article discusses the negative effects of trophy hunting for the animals, populations, and environments that we all live in. It also provides an abundance of research and graphics related to animals all over the world.

This sculpture, entitled Suffocation, is rooted in the social issue of environmental destruction and pollution. Since the Industrial Revolution, air pollution has become increasingly worrisome and detrimental to our world. Alongside air pollution is environmental destruction because factories and power plants are being built in places that require trees to be removed sometimes through slash-and-burn agriculture. This also affects the quality of air because there are fewer trees to circulate the oxygen. The idea of burning trees and the burning of chemicals being released into the air inspired my idea of the base as the world being lit on fire and burning from the outside inwards. The figure on the top, made from air-dry clay, represents an individual who has to wear a gas mask to be able to survive the destruction of their environment. I used ink to create a darker skin tone because the worst pollution takes place “in India than any other country”.

Air Pollution in India | Earth.Org

This article discusses the detrimental effects that India is facing caused by air pollution. It provides many statistics and graphics about the different states in India and how they have all been impacted for different reasons.

King of the World in process.

Suffocation in process.

Cabinet of Curiosity

Museum of Exploration

Foam board, straight pins, tape, fabric, air-dry clay, gold leaf, paper, plastic leaves, balsa wood, and hot glue.
15" x 22.5" x 8"

My Cabinet is entitled Museum of Exploration because, based on my reading from the book To Have and to Hold, the idea of exploration, how to obtain rare and valuable items, and how to display them were the main focuses that inspired my ideas.

Sir Hans Sloane was a famous collector in Europe who traveled to Jamaica to discover more plant species. As a result of this voyage, he created a catalog of 800 different plant species. This discovery inspired the first artifact that I made. It is a boat with a base made from plastic plant leaves and sails made of hot glue butterfly wings. There are numerous plants and butterfly species that Sir Hans Sloane collected which allowed him to obtain his reputation as a famous and experienced collector. My second artifact was inspired by the amount of money and trade that Sir Hans Sloane had to participate in to develop his collections. The rhombus shape made from air-dry clay and coated in gold leaf gives the illusion of an odd form of currency related to a collector’s trade. The currency is characterized by insects that most collectors start their fascinations and experiments with.

The inclusion of the curtains and triangle top was inspired by Charles William Peale’s views on how art and collections should be displayed in museums. Peale believed that art and artifacts resembled a sense of permanence and should be treated as so. By adding curtains, every time the object was viewed it was completely new to the viewer. I also added a carpet to show isolation to the specific artifacts giving them their own sense of space and story alongside the curtains. I kept the colors of these additions close to those of nature to enhance the feeling of the initial voyage.

Diagram

Memento

Envelope

Wood, white paint, and black paint.
3" x .75" x 1"

My Memento, entitled Envelope, was inspired by a package that I sent to my grandpa. I created a string picture and mailed it to him in a white bubble mailer that only had black writing on the outside. Unfortunately, he passed away before he could open that package and when we went to his house, I found the envelope, unopened in a pile of mail. I still have the package but have not opened it. My memento is shaped to look like an envelope with grooves of bubble wrap from the inside. I only used black and white paint because those are the colors I associate with the envelope, and they help to emphasize the simplicity of what is on the outside. The idea of simplicity on the outside can be applied to numerous events in our own lives based on other people’s perspectives, as well as our own.

Diagram

On Longing

"The souvenir exists as a sample of the now distant experience that only the object can evoke."

The souvenir that first came to mind when I read this sentence was my class ring from high school. While high school was not that long ago for me, since being in college it feels as if that was a whole different life. The class ring is a reminder of my accomplishments and when I look at it, it also brings back all the experiences that helped me get to where I am today.

"The souvenir speaks to a context of origin through a language of longing."

This bear was kept in the spare room at my grandparents’ house where I would sleep when we visited them. I always knew that the bear would be there so after my grandpa passed away, I kept the bear because it was something that I had placed comforting memories in. While he was not in the same place that I associated these feelings with the idea of still having the bear present created the feeling of it being a souvenir.

"The place of origin must remain unavailable in order for desire to be generated."

Traveling to New York had always been a dream of mine and in high school, I was able to go through my band program to march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. New York is not a place that has been readily available to me since this opportunity presented itself but after going once, I still have the desire to go back and experience more of the big city.

"The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the 3-D into the miniature, that which can be enveloped by the body."

This brick has a painted picture on it of Rainbow Row from Charleston, SC. This is a miniature version of the actual houses that make up Rainbow Row which is a very popular tourist attraction. The brick provides an accurate representation while also allowing the scene to be made portable.

"Nostalgia cannot be sustained without loss."

The phrase “sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory” is how I translate this sentence. I associate this sentence with the picture of me and my grandpa because he passed away when I was still young, so I do not have a lot of memories of being with him. The memories that I do have of him are all happy and made me feel loved and that feeling of nostalgia may not be so present if things were different.