While sculpture is typically formed in clay, marble or plaster molds, UNM graduate student Rob Rix finds his materials in the fluorescent-lit aisles of Walmart.
He is one of 10 students in a UNM advanced sculpture class that organized, curated and promoted their work for a showing at the Tan Gallery.
He said the art of sculpture is unique because it occupies three-dimensional space, making it difficult to replicate.
“A painting is a flat box that you’re looking at, a lot like a TV,” he said, “but sculpture is taking over the space — you’re stepping into an environment that’s different. It makes the person need to be present, whereas with a painting it’s possible to get the same effect with a print or even off the Internet if you have a big enough screen.”
Rix, whose sculpture consists of an axe plastered with stickers and stuck in a Greek column, said materials for sculpture are limitless.
“I can go to Walmart and buy some stuff and find an interesting way of combining them and it becomes a sculpture,” he said. “Any object I encounter in the world has the possibility of being art.”
He said he typically uses bright toys and stickers in his sculptures. He said he is not trying to make any particular statement, but focuses on the implications behind consumer products.
“I like to go into a Toys R Us and see what piques my interest … and just buy it and bring it to the studio,” Rix said. “Mostly stuff that’s geared toward kids. I am interested in the whole idea of ‘Hook ‘em while they’re young.’ Just see what it is we’re marketing for them.”
But Rix said he is more concerned with the way his art looks than with any deeper meaning anyone might take away from it.
“I try to choose objects based on what visual information I’m getting; whether or not I think it’s a pleasurable thing to look at, more so than what it means,” he said. “I’m not working with Barbie dolls and working with stereotypical images — G.I. Joes — that’s a little too blatant for me.”
Rix said his sculpture took a mere 10 hours to create, whereas undergraduate student Sara Rivera, who made a dome from steamed wood, said she spent more than 72 hours on her piece.
“It’s so much more than you would put in for a regular class where you can sit down and write a paper at the computer,” she said. “You have to be here, you have to set up all your materials, and it just takes a long time, and that can be a real challenge. This was probably the most time I have ever put into one undergrad project.”
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She said this was her first time working with steamed wood, but it hasn’t deterred her from using it in the future.
“It’s tough to learn that way because each piece (of wood) was an hour (in the steam box), and then I had two minutes to work with it before it dried and wouldn’t bend anymore,” Rivera said. “It was very stressful, but once you learn the limitations of the technique, then you learn new things you could do with it.”
Rix said he has no expectations for how people receive his artwork.
“If we’re honest, how many people even like art these days?”
Reverb: An Exhibition
The Tan gallery
1415 S. Fourth St.
Through Dec. 17
Fridays 3 – 6 p.m., Saturdays 2 – 5 p.m.
