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 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.

Enigmatic Shapes and Psychedelic Patterns

To say that I love Sanagi 's work is an understatement. Looking at her art feels sort of therapeutic, and I find her drawings refreshingly intricate. They're trippy, psychedelic, and resemble something that you might see under a microscope. Not much is Googleable about Sanagi, but that's fine. There aren't many artists these days that still pull off the whole mysterious vibe, so I commend her for that. By the way... they're all hand-drawn with pen and ink.

Brooklyn artist creates 'Star Wars' portraits using staples

There are so many kinds of artists as there are types of art. But James Haggerty is truly in a class of his own, since he is one of only a few masters that create amazing portraits using staples.    "When my wife and I were expecting our first child I made a switch from using a paintbrush or etching needle in my art to using a common office stapler," wrote Haggerty in a blog post . "I think my staple mosaics are not a far departure from the etchings or cityscape oil paintings that I am known for. Staples, just like an etched line, can be bold and graphic or soft and subdued."    With extraordinary patience and an organized plan, the award winning painter and printmaker from Brooklyn makes detailed mosaics of iconic Star Wars characters using thousands of multi-colored office staples.    Haggerty starts each session by creating several ink drawings before transferring his favorite sketch onto a piece of painted black board. Once the design is etc...