Skip to main content

Brett Kern fuses 80's pop culture icons into Hellenistic sculptures


Brett Kern is best known for making ceramic art pieces that deceptively look like inflatable toys. But over the course of the last few months, the West Virginia-based clay master and professor have been working hard at finishing a new series of sculptures. 

The series is based on 80's pop culture characters and inspired by the Hellenistic period. In this set, you'll find everything from a drunken E.T. (a recreation of the The Barberini Faun) to a Rafael/The Dying Gaul mashup. Perhaps my favorite of the bunch (pictured below) is ALF Strangling Cat, which is based on the Greek original Boy Strangling Goose.

"I am choosing characters that I sympathize with in some capacity," Brett was quoted as saying by Nerdist.com. "When I used to play Ninja Turtles, I pretended to be Rafael because he was the badass rebel that didn't want to listen to anyone else. Fittingly, my older brother was Leonardo and we clashed often."


 


Brett was born and raised in Pennsylvania. He graduated in 2007 from the California University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelors in Fine Arts. In 2010, he completed his master's degree from the West Virginia University. To know more about Brett and his delightful sculptures, visit his blog or follow him on Instagram.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Richey Beckett

Richey Beckett is an illustrator who works and lives in South Wales, United Kingdom. Working in record covers, movie posters, and screen printed artwork, Rickey has proven himself as a prolific artist trusted by a number of clients. 
Metallica, Grateful Dead, Mastodon, New Republic Magazine, and The British Film Institute are just some of the groups who have utilized his talent. On his bio, it reads: "Beckett uses traditional pen and ink methods to create lavishly detailed pieces of black and white illustration. Taking influence from historic biblical, literary and natural history illustrators and engravers such as Doré, Durer, Audubon and Bewick, along with the decorative flair of Art Nouveau, he creates his own organic world which expands with each new piece." Be sure to check out more of Richey's work here .

Where Bad Space and Good Music Collided

My first apartment was in Malate, and calling it “small” would be generous. I lived there with two girls and one guy, and to this day, I genuinely don’t know how we all fit. It felt like a magic trick. Or a health hazard. We were a musical mess. One roommate lived and breathed ’70s classics. Another was permanently blasting Korn and Slipknot. One survived solely on cheesy love songs. And me? I was floating somewhere between new wave and folk rock, pretending that made sense. Somehow, despite the noise and the chaos, we all lived together in this weird, mismatched harmony. No murders. No lawsuits. A win, honestly. My music taste now is nothing like it was in my twenties. Not even close. But I’ll always be grateful to Jacqueline for introducing me to this song in particular. It was playing when I woke up from a very memorable sleep in 2002. I was 21, half-awake, probably confused about life, and that song stuck. It still hasn’t let go.

The Adorable Sculptures of Yen Yen Lo

These images are from a series of wall sculptures created by Yen Yen Lo . Here you can see her intricately textured ceramic pieces, looking downright adorable. Yen Yen Lo's eye for the unique and whimsical is delightful. Apparently they are not intended for kids under 16. Fifteen-year-olds cannot be trusted with fragile stuff. Get them a Funko Pop instead.