This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 12, 2013 - Brandon Barnes only opened Cherokee’s newest dedicated gallery space, V-3, last December and already the small space is brimming with life. The collaborative work of artists Sam Davis and Kate King make up the current His/Her’s exhibit.
The sculptural artwork on display is created through lifecasting. The technique results in three-dimensional copies of the subjects’ heads and sometimes hands. Lifecasts are remarkably realistic due to the high level of textural detail that is captured. Fine wrinkles and pores bring the sculpture such a lifelike quality that the eyes appear ready to blink.
The models’ expressions caught in the His/Her’s sculptures are compelling. The models have posed with their facial muscles engaged and the frozen faces that result are wonderfully dramatic.
Davis and King have given their sculptures earthen color washes that add to their powerful conveyance of life. The figures look like mud and dirt people who have broken away from their maker’s clay. The hair of several is formed from grass, moss and shrub, adding further suggestion of a new plant-man life form, each viewed while deep in a forested slumber.
The process of lifecasting is, arguably, akin to photography as it requires technical understanding and practice for good results. The combination in this show by Davis and King of manipulated photographs and creatively executed sculptural work creates a link between the conceptual and technical aspects of both art forms.
Sam Davis and Kate King co-curated the POP UP project in 2012, organizing art exhibits in unoccupied spaces around St. Louis. They, and their gallery host, Brandon Barnes, are part of the larger movement of St. Louis artists that keeps coming up with novel ideas for bringing us fresh art experiences that awaken and invigorate.
Sarah Hermes Griesbach is a freelance writer.