"Fishy"
The process: Fishy is one of the most tedious pieces I have ever made. When first starting out, I had no idea how much I would hate sanding. Over the course of this process, I went from hating working on it to really enjoying it. I started the process by making a little bitty wooden model of the piece. Then I took scrap wood, glued two 2x4 pieces together, and trimmed the ends to make a practice piece. My initial plan was to cut the shape from the wood, but I discovered that sanding was a much more effective approach. I got frustrated with my practice piece and decided to cut the shape of the fish into the wood before I glued it together my second time around. I used a piece of 2x6x8 wood cut into two even pieces for my final version of Fishy. I used a paper stencil to draw the shape of the fish onto both pieces of wood. Then I cut them out before gluing and clamping them. The sanding process was so long and frustrating, but once I got the general shape it went more smoothly. After I had poured so much effort into Fishy, I decided not to follow my original plan of splitting him horizontally. He became very precious to me and I wanted to keep him safe, like a little baby. I cherish him and he is meant to be displayed in someone's arms because he is just a little baby. I sanded Fishy as smoothly as my patience allowed. I didn't put any type of finish on him because I wanted to imitate the unfinished wood that old toys have, like wood blocks. For the final part of Fishy's process, I carried him around with me everywhere I went. As I carried Fishy around, I became more and more fixated on making him as smooth as possible. I revisited sanding several times after I thought I was done.
Reflection: Movement was the catalyst for this idea. I wanted to create a fluid shape out of something very rigid like wood. At the beginning of this project, I didn't have a deeper meaning to the piece. However, I have discovered that meaning can come from the process, not the initial idea. There were many things that influenced my process. Throughout the project, I was often reminded of my dad. I worked on lots of building projects with him growing up, so using tools always reminds me of him. Thoughts of my father connected me to fish because he taught me to fish when I was young. Childhood was a time when I was closer to my dad, and in a lot of ways, this piece was an attempt to return to childhood and to play. Fishy was made to be held closely like a child should be. He reminds me of toys I had growing up that I used to carry with me everywhere. It takes a little bit of imagination to see Fishy as a fish, but you can also see him as other things. I was also inspired by how community shapes individuals. Any time someone made a comment about Fishy as I carried him everywhere I went, I invited them to touch him or hold him, and a lot of people did. Throughout this process, Fishy got dirtier and probably collected a lot of germs. In one way or another, he was impacted by contact with other people. I would like to explore this process more in the future to create a "community driftwood" of sorts and see the ways that the oils from hands and the waves of touch change Fishy's surface. I would also like to make several more sculptures similar to Fishy, playing with scale and exploring fluidity in the shapes of the fish.
Inspiration:
Process photos:
A few of Fishy's friends:
