I got a book from the Library called 'DOT DOT DASH' for COP. It's a book about designer toys and action figures, and I selected a couple of funky toy makers to study for COP. In there was some work by Elizabeth McGrath but her products weren't appropriate for my COP project so I decided to bring her over to this side of the blog to have a little gander at what she creates!
There's no point in wasting valuable creature maker talent spotting...
McGrath is a sculptor with an interest in the grotesque, creepy and macabre. I was drawn to her work because it was unlike anything else in DOT DOT DASH. Unlike the smooth, plastic toys on every other page, McGrath's sculpts were something truly unique.
Matte surface and hand-painted, the colours aren't flat like the other toys - they have depth and shadow and an element of realism, even on the fantastically sinister sculptures she makes.
I can't work out who her audience is. Though her shop is not currently open, she sells her sculptures online (for a lot of money). They're painted with gold (is it real gold? idk man) and they're high price, luxury items but they are SO WEIRD. I just don't know who would buy them. I love her work but I don't think I'd spend money like that on one (even if I had that money).
There must be a demand for them, because she's so successful. It's kind of like Damien Hurst - like who buys that stuff. Cool, but not worth it.
She has over 9k likes on Facebook, she's been featured in Juxtapoz magazine, she's toured with Blondie (she's also a singer) and she has celebrity fans like Ryan Gosling. WOAH.
It seems to be an American trend - apparently she is a big artist in the 'Pop Surrealism' movement in LA right now. Super trendy. Much chic.
McGrath exhibits her work across the world and she's gained an iconic status in this field. Her parents sent her to an extremist religious school because they thought she was possessed by the devil. She now rocks this prophecy.
“I spent a lot of time in solitary, and I escaped through my imagination,” says Elizabeth. “I think that’s why I became more fascinated in 3D art, because I would imagine these very real worlds.”
She looks to nature for inspiration, taking both the beauty and the decay. McGrath also comments on the state of the modern world - her work discusses consumerism, vanity and human greed.
She has a similar character aesthetic to Tim Burton and Margaret Keane - huge, bug-like eyes and scrawny, skeletal forms. There's quite a lot of work around at the moment that has similar Gothic themes and macabre tones, but I've not seen any artists take it into such a high-art sculpture class before.
My favourite of her works are the animals with holes cut out of their stomachs - she calls this 'GUT INSTINCT' and I think it could be a way of approaching the Illustrated Self brief. Extra information can be stored inside the body, describing what is going on internally as well as externally in one image.
There's a documentary about her called 'Bloodbath', I recommend a watch.
She uses a material called MagicSculp (I'm on with the investigation into what this is and how it works. Sounds like an epoxy clay/resin but I shall find out more)
"I realized 'Oh my god, these floors are just popsicle sticks that they scored with X-ACTO knives.' Everything was pretty low-fi and it made me realize you can make anything with what you have around you look pretty fantastic if you know a few little tricks. You don't need a lot of experience or some big mold-making machine. That's when I started making my own things."
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