CCACA 2013

Above: Aggression 

Clay, Wood, Mineral Oil

Below: The Big Pull

Clay, Wood, Bailing Wire, Chicken Wire, Rope

Below/Left: Surrender

Clay, Wood, Bailing Wire, Mineral Oil

Since I met him last year and fell in love with his techniques, I had to see Clayton Keyes present again. His way of creating figurative sculpture, seemingly effortlessly is amazing to me, each stroke makes just one more body part.  That is what I am trying to accomplish with my work as well, just in a different way.  Clayton works solely hollow when he builds his pieces, I tend to work solid.  
I wanted to delve into emotion more, if you are a figurative creator then emotion is everything. I want to further explore how Clayton captures the rich emotions in his work.  It goes back to the deep conceptual thinking that he does for each piece. Each piece is bursting with emotional significance, like the pieces below. You can feel the sincerity in each piece and the weight of the emotion hanging on your own shoulder. 
He says, "My sculpture tells stories that are human, relatable, and strive to leave some trace on the viewer through communicating an emotional narrative."   He inspires me to push further with my concepts and execution.  I love watching Clayton work, as I formerly stated, he moves effortlessly with clay and his very few tools. When he was working on his piece at CCACA, just one swipe of his rubber rib, and there appeared a torso, it simply amazes he how in tune with anatomy he is. Each piece I have seen is perfectly measured and each figure has a uniqueness to it that i am fascinated with.  I look forward to seeing him again, and delving deeper into his tactics and skills.