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| Michael Boles, Priscilla, 2008. Aluminum, pigmented silicone, bronze, lexan, and acrylic. 39" x 89" x 1." Available for purchase–please contact the artist. |
Priscilla. She's got to be my favorite. She was
my first, that is, in this digital series. She is, however, somewhat of a
hybrid, as there is a considerable amount of hand-cut metal in her. At the time
my digital learning curve resembled something akin to how my EKG would look
during a wild pig attack. Nonetheless, she works well for me, and holds the
inaugural water jet sculpture title.
How often do we
have a huge pimple come up on our nose or get hit in the eye with a rock doing
yard work prior to a formal event? After much deliberation and attempts at
augmenting her name with things such as, "Ruby," "Bump,"
and even "Aneurism," I decided that Priscilla alone was good enough.
One mustn't dwell on her momentary shortcomings.
As she was
being made I felt as though I was preparing her for some grand ball or event.
When I was finishing her surface I thought back about some "impossible to
name" movie I saw in which Janet Leigh (I think) was having some kind of
stuff smeared on her face before a grand ball. It must have been cold cream or
something, but I remember at the time wondering if there was anything in the
known world that you could smear on Janet Leigh to make her look better. Funny
how the mind works.
And then there
is her tiara. I lost a lot of sleep puzzling over her tiara. I could not decide
what to do with it, whether to polish it to a mirror finish or patina it dark
or a myriad of other options in between. It once fell, hit the concrete floor,
and bent one of the tines, which prompted me to look up tiaras online. Another
morning was wasted when I got sidetracked looking up Jerry Falwell and nearly
imported a virus, the only time that has ever happened to my Mac. Spiros
[Zachos] bailed me out and told me to not go back to that site. I accepted his
wisdom, returned to task, and found out that Queen Elizabeth II ostensibly had
the largest collection of priceless tiaras in the world (go figure), many from
Queen Alexandra who didn't need them anymore. I also found out that Wonder
Woman used her tiara as a weapon. The irony was almost overwhelming. I decided
that Priscilla's tiara should look
worn, used, and used again, but not necessarily as a means of dispatching a
foe. It then struck me that the finish couldn't be that important since one
can't tell from a distance a priceless tiara from one purchased from Toys-R-Us
without cheaters on.
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| Michael Boles, detail of Priscilla, 2008. Aluminum, pigmented silicone, bronze, lexan, and acrylic. 39" x 89" x 1." Available for purchase–please contact the artist. |
Love the story!
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