Celebrating lineage in polymer

Dominique Scaife shows how Roots Run Deep on PolymerClayDaily.com

I have a story to tell of the beauty I see. Of a beautiful people that are my lineage. The intent of my art is to capture the vastness of who we are as a people, our culture, our style, our essence and share that beauty with the world,” explains Pittsburgh polymer artist Dominique Scaife

In her 2019 solo show, World Melanation: A Celebration of Hue, Dominique exhibited 20 one-of-a-kind sculptures created to celebrate the beautiful skin tones of black women.

Dominique’s newest works are part of the Roots Run Deep: A Contemporary Survey of African American Hair Culture at Brew House Association. She’s here on Instagram.

Roots Run Deep looks at the ways in which Black hairstyles are tied to tradition and examines the historic influences on modern styling. The show runs through March 6.

Polymer street art

CityZenKane CZK's polymer works sprout on walls in the UK on PolymerClayDaily.com

Whenever I travel I train my eyes to scan for polymer. It sometimes appears in unlikely places.

In London, for instance, the elusive CityZenKane CZK on Instagram(not to be confused with the early business name of Ford & Forlano) mounts his guerrilla art on buildings and street corners.

Ten years ago CZK used polymer for the finished pieces but now he sculpts in polymer and then casts a silicone mold which he fills with resin. It’s educational (and somewhat trippy) to look at the videos of his work, his inspirations, and his installations.

This week I traveled to San Diego and my eyes spied several polymer artists in the studios at Spanish Village Art Center, a collection of galleries in Balboa Park adjacent to the city’s museums and its famous zoo. In StudioMojo I’ll share the photos and tips picked up from our West coast street artists. Join us for the rest of the story.

Polymer off the beaten path

France’s Sonya Girodon enjoyed departing from her usual path and traveling into the woods.

The result is these polymer thistles, burrs or alien pods created especially for the upcoming Into the Forest exhibit in Valley Forge during Synergy4 and in Pittsburgh next November.

How are you coming with your contribution to this big show? The deadline is April 4.

Sonya’s having a banner year. Just look at all the breakthroughs and game-changers that she’s come up with on her Facebook and Flickr.

As long as we’re looking at our to-do lists, have you registered for Synergy4? Can’t attend? No worries. Even if you can’t go, enter your artwork in the IPCA Awards competition and you’ll be there in spirit. The awards online entry isn’t showing up on the new IPCA site but I’m sure it will be activated soon.

Sonya shows us how to stretch our creative muscles and try out new ideas in 2017.

Color cravings

Do you have color cravings? My mouth watered and my stomach said, “Yum, let’s eat that!” when I saw these polymer and silver donuts from Ford & Forlano’s booth at the Baltimore ACC show. (More new work here.)

They’re not edible but those reds look mighty juicy and my system gets confused when bombarded by beauty. The earrings’ blues vibrated and hummed happily too.

If you’d like a calorie-free color snack, go sample the goodies on Dave and Steve’s site and Facebook page.