Devin Crandell BFA Painting Thesis Fall 2021

The Mother of Evolution

The Mother of Evolution. That is the name of my sculpture. The sculpture stands seven feet one inch tall. Made from mild steel chicken wire fiberglass and body filler. The entire project is the sculpture and also the process. I am including the process as part of the project because without the process I would have, just a tall women sculpture.

            The process is important because of the way I work. The way I work is methodical and process driven. Things at any given time during the creation of the artwork seem to be messy and without a goal. Which would be further from the truth.

            Their were many phases for the sculpture the final one being the quickest and hardest, I am talking about the painting, their were three coats of primer then two coats of paint. Each layer took under fifteen minutes two apply and about an hour in between. Im putting this in here because it was the most enjoyable and also the most stressful part of the project. Other stages lasted longer because of the meticulous nature of the project. For example, the beginning stage where I had to create an armature out of ¼ inch round stock took a long time because I had to bend the bars in the beginning shape and weld them together in just the right spots and angles.

            The Mother of Evolution depicts the moment that man and machine finally come together as one. It’s the beginning of a human made evolution a step towards longer life and greater cognitive abilities plus so much more like enhanced strength better vision and anything that could enhance the human body.

            I created the sculpture as a female for one, because it is less threatening than a male would be. Two, because of beauty I wanted a form that would be beautiful but strong. And lastly I needed a shape that could be beautiful and strong and tall everything a mother is. Since she is the mother of evolution I needed these things in one form that could usher in a new step in human kind.

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Spring 2021