The Beautifully Grotesque Wax Sculptures of Sigrid Sarda

There are two types of reactions to seeing Sigrid Sarda's work: turning away or moving in closer. Sigrid, a talented sculptor based in New York, creates unbelievably detailed and delicate-looking human figures made of wax. She's been carving beautifully grotesque pieces for many years now, but for over 30 years she was a painter. Due to the death of her father and the psychological aftermath she experienced, she quit painting.

Sigrid's sculptures are life-size wax pieces built on hand wrought armatures, sometimes real human bones upon which she hand-models cast faces and other body parts. Be sure to check out her blog or follow her on Instagram for information on exhibitions and more of her fabulous work.

Artist Statement:

"Sigrid Sarda constructs life-size human figures made of wax incorporating human remains in the tradition of the doll as a magical object. The figures become talismans, reliquaries housing human bones. Each tableaux, in tradition of the diorama, is peppered with the grotesque, comic and at times empathetic life-size characters along with backdrops of popular cultural and biblical icons, engaging in what our culture deems acceptable by today's standards. Borrowing from fables, allegories and fairytales Sarda creates nightmarish vignettes of her own personal malaise blurring the lines of the assumption of the hero/villain and the universal concepts of archetypical imagery. With her characteristic dark humor, Sarda creates a world of flipped morality and a decaying system of values run amok."