Author: Jeffrey Knopf

Balance meditation

The sun is out so I decided to add more to and finish this piece.
It’s another meditation on balance with the hag stones acting as the counter weight which keeps it all standing.
Dowel, hag stones, raffia and a found fox skull that I have had for some years, in fact it was one of the best free finds I have ever had at a car boot sale.
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art #artistsoninstagram #artist #sculpture #contemporaryart #contemporarysculpture #hagstone #foxscull

Tidy

It may be hard for some to believe but my studio has regained its calmness.
It had got to the point that if I did not tidy it up there would be no going back, it’s now lovely and refreshing to step back in to this space.
Right now to turn it in to a shit tip again 😁.
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artiststudio #atelier #tidystudio

Isolation Evolution

Isolation evolution
My original plan was to carve a bigger version of Head Stack but as the saying goes the plans of mice and men, this was not to be.
I liked the poetry of the stacked blank heads and some how this all comes together when the carved head is placed on top.
Weather I keep this head or carve another is a question I have to ask myself, along with the idea of figuring out how to make silicon moulds so that I can then cast multiple heads in concrete that can be used for sculptures or as components for mixed media sculptures.
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art #artist #artistoninstagram #kunst #kunstwerk #wood #woodcarving #carvingwood #contemporaryart #contemporarysculpture #sculpture #isolationcreation #wip?

Reading material

Ones current reading material. Admittedly I’m finding it rather hard to focus so find myself dipping in and out of sections of these books.
It’s fairly interesting reading about Joseph Beuys, an artist I have known about for years manly for his self made mythology about crashing his plane during World War Two in Siberia, being rescued by Tarters who covers him in fat and then wrapped him in Felt. This supposedly had a profound effect on him and permeated much of his art for the rest of his life. But the story was made up which is an interesting thing how a made up story can become a way of life.
As for Arte Povera ( poor art) this is pretty new to me thanks to @eatkatemoss Chris Graham for introducing me to this art movement, the idea of using what is at hand to make art rings with me at this current time and can be seen in my art practice as can a link to what Beuys was doing.
The funny thing is as others were buying food I was buying off cuts of wood.
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books #artbooks #art

Head Stack

Head stack
Completed in the end I decided on eight heads for this piece it’s a more even number and stands stronger
Each head is individually hand carved using carving knives and a rotary tool.
The wood chips around the base are what have amassed whilst carving the heads,
The strength in this piece comes from the fact that it could get knocked down at any point and thus nothing lives for ever, even when it is rebuilt it will never be the same again.
Maybe it is an unconscious metaphor for the current situation
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art #artist #artistoninstagram #contemporaryart #contemporaryartist #sculpture #woodsculpture #contemporarysculpture #contemporarywoodcarving #woodcarving #carving #carvingwood #handcarved #folkart #corvid19 #stayinghome #isolation #isolationcreation

Six heads

And then there were six heads. It’s hard going trying to keep focused whilst the madness of Corona is going on around us. Today I heard of a close friend of mine who has contacted it. His case was so bad that he is now in an induced coma whilst medical staff fight it for him.
I have never felt that my work is inspired by what is going on but feedback from other sites proves to differ, I’m just playing with balance.
This piece is slowly going in the right direction I only have four more heads to carve. The inclusion of the wood chips also add to it.
I’ve also been trying to read I’m currently split with a few books, Joseph Beuys what is art
Arte Povera ( which is making a bit of an impact )
And Documents of contemporary art Craft
I like this opening by Henry Heerup from 1944
Much Folk Art is domestic work. Not thought of as that which we would normally call art but simply as decoration. Therefore I suppose ornament is the basic form of folk art.
I expect it makes sense to me as I feel like my art practice is based within the craft, art and folk art realms

Head stack

After many different iterations of heads I now think I’m getting somewhere with my head stack.
There is no planning just a couple of hours spent with a couple of blocks of wood and a few knives oh and a rotary tool.
It’s times like this I’m thankful for being an artist because no matter how long a day is I’m always able to find times to occupy myself with one art project or another.
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art #artist #artistoninstagram #kunst #kunstwerk #sculpture #contemporaryart #contemporarysculpture #woodcarving #wood #carvingwood #whittling #wip #wipart

Play

I don’t profess to be a good photographer secondly I could not find a white wall to photograph this latest piece against. It’s another balancing act that came out of play. The hag stone acts as the counter weight that keeps it all standing. Now to decide where to add some more raffia and to peel of stickers from the dowel..
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play #art #artistsoninstagram #contemporaryart #contemporarysculpture #balancingact