Creating Polly Wants A Cracker was terrifying as I dove into the post-modern narrative and felt the mimesis dissolve. The work features a literal breakthrough of alternative mediums in my painting style as the foam-carved hand and marionette perform the artistic dance of mimesis. I am the marionette, and I am the puppet master. As the marionette, I am controlled by the traditional creative process. I copy what others have created, and I cannot exist as an artist without their influence. As the puppet master, I control the art and the movement of style.
Polly Wants A Cracker was inspired by Michelangelo’s sculpture Moses, as well as by his painting of the Creation of Adam. The marionette was sculpted from a heavy-weight foam block, and suspended with fishline. The hand that extends from the acrylic-painted portrait was constructed using lightweight floral foam. The work was my answer to thinking outside of the box..
