Early Morning Conversations

This past Monday I met with Aimee Anemelu, whose work I had never seen before, and we had a conversation about our work. This is what Aimee had to say about her work

N:  Were you primarily concerned with any one thing when making these sculptures? I mean I guess, what were you thinking about during these?

A: I like to think that I don't really plan,which I think my teacher thinks... No he likes it... But I think he would like it if I planned and sketched more but I don't.

N: So they're a lot more intuitive?

A: Yeah they really are. As I go things come up.

N: I can relate to that because I paint in the same way. Your sculptures all tend to be larger in size and have 

a lot of weight to them.

A: Yeah I use a lot of plaster, this one couldn't be moved, it took four people to move it. The last time it was moved it broke. These cinder blocks help keep it together as a support. During critique it was asked if they were necessary or not, well yeah, it's necessary to help it stand, although it wasn't part of the piece, but because it's so gritty like you said... it's not so nice..

N: It's not a clean support at all.

A: Which is why I thought it wasn't an issue.

N: Well all three of them all look heavy as hell, even this one even though it appears to be leaves, there's such an extreme bend and tension where it's being hung.

N: Are these raisins?

A: Yeah and they started to mold at the gallery, it was set up in the gallery on a table, kind of like this one, just a used old table. It looks similar to a turkey and my teacher told me I should display it as one; on a nice table with plates and silverware. But I'm not sure that was an idea I was comfortable with as it gave too much to the viewer. It would limit what someone could think about the piece.

N: Right, if it had been presented in that way that's all it would have been seen as.

A: Yeah it felt corny, but everyone has their tastes'.

N: Presentation's a big part of it

A: Exactly he felt like it was enough, which it kind of wasn't, it didn't take up the whole table and in a way it looked like something was missing because the same amount of attention was being given to the table as the sculpture.

N: Even though you say you work intuitively, I feel like you had to be thinking of something with this one. The other two are these big, natural forms but this one clearly resembles a turkey dinner with the characteristics of a female person.

A: When I was making that I was watching a lot of natural, at home birthing online. I would try to talk to be about it and they would immediately want to change topics. I don't know if it's even girl talk, people are just uncomfortable talking about it.

N: Maybe by you making this, it's your way of making people deal with it by making it so visual in front of them.

A: That's interesting, making this for me was very intimate as clay is very intimate to work with. Just the way that you have to mold and smooth it, and just thinking that out of those actions someone can be revolted by it is pretty interesting to me. And the thing I like about certain materials is for instance I used a food material but didn't think about how it would act. It started molding around the nipple area, so the idea I cant put something down and allow it to do what it needs to do without me worry about it. Just the way that I didn't know it would mold, but what if I had known? Would I have been able to plan around it or would I have made it to much?

N: The mold is even growing on the clay, and physically tying the two materials together, and it doesn't look bad on this table.