Smile for Fun Time  took a while to complete. It is technically three separate pieces connected with ½-inch steel square tubing The piece began, like so many of my piece begin, with the face and the expression. As I was modeling this, I was reminded of the crude hand puppets from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, PBS. I love making these characters live through their expressions. 

The jack in the box was a toy that bothered me as a child. This character was crammed into a space that was too small. The cranking building towards a surprise. These toys always felt less like something you played with but instead like a tool for intentionally shooting adrenaline. They always felt both literally and figuratively forced. This piece imagines the “Jack” as suffering conscious being, who hates his job and the meaningless of his existence. His expression is begging for this to end.