Tim Ripley
Artist statement
My work involves a very
up-close, scientific examination of absurdly iconic forms
rendered in polymer clay. I create paintings of these small
sculptural shapes in a manner that blurs the distinction between
painting, digital modeling, and photography.
The small clay sculptures
I use as the subject of my paintings are suggestive of both adult
and juvenile themes. I question the humanity of being
“grown up”, by imbuing my forms with sinister
undertones.
In contemporary society,
more and more of our environment is experienced indirectly
through reproductions, and simulations. I want to represent
this mediation of experience, by creating art that is
simultaneously a photograph, a digital image, a sculpture, an
icon, and a painting.
My process involves
creating a sculptural “icon” from polymer clay,
photographing the shape, digitally altering the photograph,
creating a high quality print of the digital file, and then
translating this image with paint onto a wood panel.