Creepy Baby Lamp Collection
"Hey Baby!" Lamp $125
Okay, so I made some creepy, crazy lamps. They're not to everyone's taste (or anyone's that I know of) but perhaps one day, they will sell to the right person who will appreciate their creepiness.
Just bear with me on these, I mean, after all, they're considered art, right? At least they thought so at the Steampunk Show held in the Paper Moon Gallery at Century Hall in Bay Saint Louis, MS. The show will be up from June 9-July 10, 2012. There, you can see these lights, as well as a couple other equally scary lights per my contribution.
I had always longed to do something with doll parts. I've experimented in the past with a few things, but since I've been on the lighting kick and haven't managed to electrocute myself to death, inspiration came easy. I finally found the right body types and parts and went to work.
"Hey Baby!" is comprised of a vintage composite doll body that was already perfectly cracked all over and in deplorable condition- which I love. I added an antique glaze and rubbed my dirty hands all over the body (that sounds soooo bad) making sure to add a little extra patina to the most loved spots (like the face, knuckles, and elbows). The lamp was already made, so this was a lot easier for me than normal.
"The Pennyeater" Lamp $125
"The Pennyeater" was made from a vintage hard plastic doll whose head moved when you moved her legs - something I was unaware of until I got home and started trying to take it apart. It was a startling thing to have the damn doll, but it was terrifying when I moved it's leg and it turned it's head and looked me dead in the eye seeming to command, "DO NOT RIP MY ARMS AND LEGS OFF!"
This provided a wonderful incentive to disassemble the doll and get to work. I followed the same process as the other doll lamp, adding a couple of artistic touches: a blackened eye with a fake eyelash, a tear drop made of hot glue, and of course, the penny stuck in the mouth.
The piece represents the torment of having an infant and how much money we give our children, yet it never seems to be enough.....Well, at least that's one message that could be received from it. THE TRUTH IS that I designed the doll's face after my own after I woke up after a partyish night with black eyeliner all around my eye and only one fake eyelash left. The tear drop was added as an afterthought - mainly just to see if I could do it. I found the penny on the floor, and it seemed to fit perfectly in the mouth, which is representative of me in that I used to eat pennies as a child. I know, it's weird, but I've since moved on to $5 bills...
The cogs and springs were added at the last minute courtesy of the gallery owner. The babies didn't quite fall into the category of Steampunk, so some amendments had to be made to rectify this problem. It was so nice to have a mini-mentor moment with a famous artist - all advice was very appreciated and criticism turned out to be a lot easier to take since college Art 101. (I'm still mad at those bastards from that class....)
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