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Michael O'KeefeThe Laurel Series, #62011
2011
About the Item
Michael O’Keefe’s sculptures, drawings, and paintings depict figurative narratives born from unpredictable processes. He couples innovative methods with unconventional tools to create figuration that is fresh and original. O’Keefe says, “My playful processes generate exciting and new vocabulary. I compose these vocabularies according to my artistic compass, forming each work into a dynamic visual experience. It is not until the work is near completion that I begin to recognize the figures within; they are from the past, of our time, and perhaps, pointing to the future. These figures put us within a narrative that begins, with no preamble, in the middle of things (In Medias Res).”
About his Laurel Series, Michael O'Keefe states:
"I believe that nature follows a general rhyme and reason. After many years of drawing and sculpting from the model, and many additional years teaching in front of the model, I have come to understand the general laws of the forms of the human body. These laws are not simply about mechanics but are also about the more general way in which natural forms move through space, interact with each other, transition from one to the next, compliment each other and contrast each other. As one becomes more familiar with the forms of the human body one realizes that the same visible laws of nature can be found in other non-human natural forms. I have always found that trees are especially interesting in how they relate to, and in many cases echo, human forms. There are countless examples in literature of the anthropomorphizing of trees, and for good reason. It is a basic and an innate tendency of human psychology to attribute human traits to just about anything, but trees are especially fertile ground in this regard. First and foremost, the gesture of form in trees is so incredibly relatable to the gesture of form in the human body. The various sequences of form that allow us to read people's body language can often be found in the forms of a tree. This is why, on a number of occasions, I have happened upon branches, stumps, or other tree fragments that struck me as a beautiful, albeit partial, figurative sculpture already underway. In the case of the Laurel Figure series, all of the torsos of these figures are derived from a single mold that was made from a section of tree that I spotted floating at the edge of White Rock Lake. The shape of this section of tree, accompanied by the movement of the surface texture, made for a very evocative female torso with the suggestion of a dress. Having captured this shape and texture in a rubber mold, I was able to make various casts with differing contours by bending the mold in different ways before casting. Each torso had its own gesture that was completed with the construction of legs and a head. In ancient Greek Mythology, Daphne was turned into a laurel tree to avoid the pursuing Apollo, rendering the laurel tree a symbol of human triumph. Alternatively, I used the triumphant forms and texture of a tree to render my figures alive with expressive gestural movement."
Michael O’Keefe earned his MFA from SMU and currently teaches at The O’Keefe Studio Center in Richardson, Texas.
- Creator:Michael O'Keefe (1977, American)
- Creation Year:2011
- Dimensions:Height: 48 in (121.92 cm)Width: 14.5 in (36.83 cm)Depth: 9.38 in (23.83 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Dallas, TX
- Reference Number:Seller: 167471stDibs: LU2572141753
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About this body of work:
“Everybody has that feeling when they look at a work of art and it’s right, that sudden familiarity, a sort of...recognition, as though they were creating it themselves, as though it were being created through them while they look at it or listen to it...” ―William Gaddis, "The Recognitions"
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