New Major Work by
KARIN HELMICH
"Doll #5 (Barbie Party)"
ED WICKLANDER
"Large Screwbulb"
Artist's Information
Wicklander's Strange and Clever Sculpture
Wicklander is probably best known for his life-size wooden likeness of Little Richard (at right), which was acquired in 1988 at the Chicago International Art Expo by the collection of Fred Weisman and is now ensconced in Weisman’s Museum in New Orleans.
Other celebrity portraits include the late Grateful Dead guitarist and singer Jerry Garcia, Roy Orbison and of folk-hero Casey Stengel. A ring of red roses surrounds a "kind" and young Jerry Garcia. Roses are a well-known Grateful Dead motif and Wicklander combines the blooms with thriving stems of poppy plants. The hallucinogenic theme is carried throughout the work, most notably in the rainbow-colored variegated metallic leaf base directly referencing a common type of sheet acid.
As with many of Wicklander’s intricate sculptures, there are clever surprises to be found if you look closely enough.
The Stengel bust was an elegant construction of carved wood, gears and levers in which Stengel, seen in bas-relief profile, removes his pieced metal hat to reveal a wooden bird sitting atop his head. The image references a story about the batter’s infamous response to an unhappy crowd that was heckling him upon his return to his old playing turf, now as a member of the opposing team.
"My work is fueled by a personal vision that often reflects my own peculiar observations of our contemporary society and environment. The combination of diverse materials and a sometimes startling juxtaposition of objects are important considerations in the development of my sculpture as an identifiable body of work.
Some pieces are completed with the original concept I had in mind, while other times intuition takes over, resulting in works that were never planned but which please me a great deal. I find this method of working spontaneous and surprising -- and I love the element of the unexpected idea that becomes unprovoked reality as I work.
My work makes an immediate and sometimes confrontational statement which, upon closer inspection, allows for deeper interpretation."