Ming Destiny started out, and for years has been primarily TouchStones, the pocket sculptures. Then, before my move to Atlanta, full-size sculpting with Diamas (my name for it) clear acrylic began. Unfortunately, when I moved to Atlanta I lost my ties with the local galleries that were ready to sell Ming Destiny sculptures. It is important for me to sell my work locally, close to where I’m at, and that now means Atlanta. As it turns out, as it has all unfolded, I am now less interested in galleries (their percentage is way too high) and more interested in selling at the local art shows, hopefully eventually juried shows. Shows to me are the best way to make personal contact with customers and patrons, an important aspect that has been key in the success of Ming-Kahuna. In addition to shows there is the Internet, and to date that has been the contact point for the other Ming Destiny pieces that have sold. Unfortunately, the Internet is far form the best sales medium for selling three-dimensional objects that are next to impossible to photograph. The photograph that you see above, hardly a good one, took well over a month and dozens of takes, and required the perfect sunbeam on my kitchen table. At best you can just begin to understand the shape of Opus. With that as a given, let me tell you just a bit about this form of sculpture.
When I started this work with clear acrylic I thought that once again I was blazing a new trail. With the first handful of sculptures under my belt I thought to do a web search to see if I was alone in what I was doing, hand carving sculpture from solid blocks of acrylic. I was excited and comforted to find that I wasn’t alone. Blazing one trail with Ming-Kahuna was quite enough! It seems that a handful of years back a few very successful and famous sculptors began sculpting as I do with solid blocks of acrylic. They call it “crystalline” which reflects the fact that the acrylics that we use are nearly optically perfect, more so than crystal glass sculpture. The work of these sculptors sells for thousands of dollars but takes a figural form that, while beautiful, is not my style. Please don’t confuse the works of these artists with the numerous acrylic animal sculptures that are out on the market, they are nothing alike and not nearly in the same league. But, at any rate, it was a pleasant surprise to find that the precedent for this art form was already set and need not be created from he ground up.
So, unaware of the work of others, I had proceeded bringing my own style and artistic sensibilities to the art form, as if in a vacuum. The freeform organic shapes and style of Ming/Kaze/Moxie were naturals for the acrylic that I have called Diamas. The first sculpture was called Predator Shape Study “Fritz”, a piece that has been shown on the Ming site and resides in my collection as sort of a mascot. Various spirals have been done and have sold around the country to people outside of the pipe community. But, during that time the sculptures were not practical to produce. Acrylic is very hard stuff and the blocks give way only grudgingly. Then, when coming home from the CORPS Expo last year my good buddy Jeff Folloder suggested that we stop off at a woodworker’s supply store in North Carolina. While in the store Jeff came up to me and plopped down into my hands a grinding tool that turned out to be the keys to the kingdom. Finally, in addition to another tool that I had added a few years before, I could do pretty much what I wanted with Diamas. Better yet, with one further simple tweak to the one tool, my abilities will be unlimited. With these advancements I have been working slowly and methodically since, honing my skills. I’m quite proud of my previous pieces, but with the piece that you see above, Opus, I have reached the next level.
Opus, as named by my wife while I was wet sanding the piece in the pool, is a most unusual shape. The piece of acrylic from which it was sculpted is like no other that I have used. When bought it was separated from the other acrylic and located by the polycarbonate, so its exact nature is unknown to me. All I know is that I set the block aside with the shape that it would take having changed over and over again, developing for almost five years. Then, one day I woke up knowing that it was the day to work the block. It had to be so, and I made it so. I had looked at that block of Diamas up on the shelf almost every day for years, and the shape of the piece finally locked into place. Of course the piece that you see above varies even from that pre-carve locked shape, but that is the fun of art, rolling with the moment as what you see in your mind’s eye comes to be, leading to new visions and inspirations.
Opus begins up top as an almost Arashi tamper shape morphing into a somewhat Predator belly shape below. As the piece necks down into the lower portion strong contours arise out of the organic spiral that come to define the shape below. The upper and lower portions are very different but the transition and the continuation of a strong contour throughout brings the shape together offering a sort of complexity that holds one’s vision and interest rather than causing the eye to pass right over and away. If each definite section of the piece is viewed alone the shape of the other section isn’t what you would predict, but, the two are fit for each other and one flows into the other without taking the piece into the realm of the mundane. As I’ve said, my wife saw the shape of a penguin, something that I see as well. Since seeing the penguin I have also seen the shape of the benevolent aliens, the Mondoshawan, from the movie The Fifth Element, especially when viewed from the side. Please feel free to see what you want in it, like it or dislike it, or dismiss it altogether, or take pleasure in its form.
Overall the piece is approximately seven inches tall, three-and-a-half inches wide from front to back, with a width side to side of two inches. The piece is much larger than that sounds and is not lost on a shelf with other pieces of art. Size-wise this is a substantial piece. As to the material itself, as I’ve said, Diamas is generally more optically clear than crystal glass. The light refractions within are incredible and are a large part of the difficulty with photographing such a piece. One advantage of Diamas over crystal/glass is that once glass is damaged repair is next to impossible and difficult at best. Chips and scratches are often permanent. With Diamas significant damage is far less likely to occur and chips and scratches are easily repaired to bring the piece back to new condition. Often a simple buff is all that will be required.
Opus is being offered for sale. The price is $535 which includes insured domestic Priority Mail shipping. Opus will include a Neil Flancbaum buckskin leather pouch. The piece will be signed on the very bottom and will include a laminated ownership card.