Expressive 3D Forms

"Memorial"

The first thing to come to mind when "memorial" pops up are the various structures that are erected to serve as memorials for events, people, ideas, etc. We have gravestones, which mark the final resting place of the bodies of the deceased; memorials, therefore, because when visits are paid one often recalls memories with that person. We have monuments such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, which serves as a means of commemorating those that have been lost. All of these structures, in one way or another, have this one unified purpose: a way of remembering.

For this piece I chose to pay homage to that, mostly in the piece that stands vertically. Its shape most closely resembles a gravestone. On this "monument", as I will now call it, I scratched into the wood triangular shapes to not only add in texture, but also as a figurative "scarring" on the monument; cars on emotional and physical levels, to serve as reminders for one's trials and shortcomings in life.

The stand on which the monument stood actually is shaped to be a path that diverges into two seperate paths, standing in for the decisions one must make in life and the possibilities that come with those decisions.

"Calm"

Calm was a bit tricky for me. The actual piece began as "sad", working in a teardrop shape to incorporate into the design. That however seemed too obvious and representative, so I began to rework it. But as I started sanding it down I took into consideration the ease of the curves in the shape that I had made, and suddenly calm seemed to work more with it.

Thus, I recreated that teardrop shape and sanded the edges down to create smooth roundness, and also sanded the flat plane of the balsa wood to give it an even smoother texture than it does naturally. The smoothness reminds me of water, in that it almost has a slickness to it.

Originally the structure stood with its length vertical, so that it was tall; but I decided that laying it down would better suit the word it represents. I also was worried that it was too plain, too "easy", and it looked like it needed something more... But I actually stared at it for a moment and thought that if I were to add too much, it would subtract from the "calm" and clutter it. And so I chose to stay with a simpler design to keep that from happening.

Dubious

I had to define dubious, and I really liked what it means. It means, "hesitating or doubting; not to be relied upon; suspect". Immediately I thought of stairs. You start going up vertically, reaching up to greater heights, going above and beyond, reaching goals.. Then you hesitate and flatline, going horizontally until you meet another moment where you feel confident and rise up once again.

I decided a simple stair design would be sufficient, and decided to add a bit of "decor". The masking tape I added purely for decoration; the clear tape, however, I used not only for decoration, but to tie it back to the definition. By "suspect" I was thinking of being cautious, and on a slick surface (like would be with the clear tape) you would have to be, especially going down stairs.

Old

When I thought of old I thought of a ruined building, one that has been abandoned for some time with no upkeep. The roof is caving in, dilapidated and wrecked. I chose to use the image of the rotting shingles in this piece, layering pieces together that have been weathered and textured to look old.

To hold these pieces up to keep them from just being a singular plan, I needed something to also represent old.. I thought about how many older folks have to walk around with the help of a cane or walking stick of sorts, and so I tried to play with the walking stick and make a crooked.. well, stick, to help hold it up.

(lots of blood was shed in the making of this one!)