WILLIAM FILLMORE SCULPTURE
DUMMIES
DEAD AND DUMB
Painted Stoneware
20in x 10in x 12in
2021
Dead & Dumb is a continuation of my interest in the Dunce Cap as a relic of the shaming ritual. The skull is my first child’s or baby skull. I find the forced wearing of Dunce Cap a repugnant when the ritual was applied to children of school age. As I sat with my disgust I thought that applying a dunce cap to a dead child’s skull would mirror my issues with rejection and shaming. If this were the last experience a child had, or any person for that matter, it would be terrible.
This project also provided me with two fun technical challenges. First was to achieve the verisimilitude of a child’s skull and the second was to create a perfect “cone” shape. The cone was finished with multiple layers of autobody filler and primer that were sanded repeatedly to achieve a glassy finish. I loved the technical opportunities that this piece provided me.
DUMMY
Painted Stoneware
20in x 6in x 12in
2021
Dummy comes from my long running fascination with public ritualized shaming and rejection. I was first introduced to the dunce cap through Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. And later I recognized it more and more in popular media. I was fascinated with this ritual. It to me signifies a culture’s supremacy over its members, and the lengths that a culture will go to enforce its will and to shame and ostracize members that are incapable of measuring up to unrealistic standards of conformity.
I envisioned a figure who was shamed and rejected for not just being mentally disabled but was also discarded because of their physical deformities as well.
I wanted to apply a faux bronze finish to this piece. I enjoy the sense of legitimacy and historical significance that this adds to the work
reject
raku Stoneware and mixed media
24in x 15in x 15in
2018
please just like me
I'll do whatever you want
just let me have a part
please...
