Look what just came out of the kiln! I’m always so excited when a new piece emerges, like a phoenix, from the flames. The transformation from impermanence to (semi) permanence reminds me of reincarnation, like a little death that actually brings eternal life.
I don’t mean to get spiritual, but in this case it’s particularly important, because this mini ceramic piece is a sculpture of a goddess. I was walking through the Greek and Roman galleries at the Met recently, and noting all of the impressive sculptures and busts of gods and goddesses, and thought, why can’t we create our own mythology? One that borrows from ancient traditions, but is tailored to what we need from our spiritual guides, in our own, modern lives?
With that in mind, here’s a short video with some of the steps I took to create her:
Now, there’s more to the story behind this piece, but I’ll save it for after the glaze is done. And by the way, the pearls are not part of the sculpture, but they used to belong to my grandmother, who is also an artist, and I when I saw them out of the corner of my eye as I was photographing my art, I just felt compelled to include them :).
Stay tuned for more,
Adesina <3
So pleased to share this mini head which I made as part of a larger series. As you can guess from this blog post title, I’ve taken some inspiration from Black Panther – the underglaze mimics Shuri’s face paint!
Check out a short video of this piece, below:
Making art is such a soothing and self-affirming process. Sculpting this piece in particular reminded me of my first sculptures as a child, because back then I was very much preoccupied with finish, and on this piece, I tested several underglaze combinations before I was satisfied.
There’s more to come with this piece and others, so bookmark its portfolio page for updates!
xo,
Adesina (She Opens the Way)
Hellooooo from the art studio 😀! I’ve been working hard and I wanted to share with you, a few behind the scenes clips, on a sculpture which is very nearly done – yay! 🙌💃
And for more videos and updates like this one, be sure to like and follow me on Facebook, at Facebook.com/ArtByAdesina
Hugs,
Adesina ❤❤❤
—-
¡Holaaaaa desde el estudio de arte 😀! Estoy trabajando mucho y quisiera compartir un video detrás de escena ¡sobre una escultura cual está casi completa! 🙌💃
Y para más videos y noticias como ésta, por favor siguenme en Facebook, en Facebook.com/ArtByAdesina
Abrazos,
Adesina ❤❤❤
Happy MerMay!
So I started this drawing last MerMay, and even though I signed it, I never really felt I had finished it. So since May has swung around again, I thought I’d take it out and add some more color!
Here is last year’s post — Hit the right arrow to see the original progress video 🙂
And here’s an update from today! Check out the deep blues and greens of the water – What do you think? Should I add some coral to the sea floor?
I hope you guys like the picture so far, and stay tuned for a finished version!
Love,
Adesina
While I mull over the final finish for my latest sculpture, Objectification (I), I thought I’d put together a video of the process, to give a little glimpse into the weeks of hard work that even a small sculpture can take.
From molding the clay on the armature, to covering it in several coats of plaster to make a cast, to letting that dry only to dig out the original clay, and fill it with more plaster, to finally chipping away at the mould to reveal the final sculpture underneath, it is quite a journey!
I hope you enjoy the video and the process, and I can’t wait to share the final reveal when her patina is done.
(Read more about the meaning of this sculpture, here»)
Love,
Adesina
Adesina poses in the studio with her sculpture Objectification I
Hello my loves,
As Women’s History Month comes to a close, I wanted to share one of my recent sculptures, focused on the female form, which is currently drying in my studio & awaiting a coat of varnish and a patina: “Objectification (I).”
If you have a moment, here is her story:
In the aftermath of the #MeToo movement earlier this year, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be a woman, in a culture where sexual predation still occurs, yet somehow has been ignored in certain sectors, for so very long. Especially since I have been working in the entertainment industry as a television host for the past 13 years, and even having been introduced to the “casting couch” myself (to which I said “No thank you, I’ll pass” lol), the entire movement hit very close to home.
Objectification I sculpture by artist Adesina – legs, feet and face only.
This sculpture, a nude woman, her face neatly removed as if through a futuristic, bloodless surgery, and placed by her feet, is not so much about sexual assault in and of itself, as much as it’s about the erasure of women’s identities, in the midst of all these accusations and public outcry. It’s about how it feels to be exposed to the world, with one’s story of sexual abuse or harassment, and being made into just one of a huge number of interchangeable women – angry women, mistreated women, scared women, women who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, or women labeled as just plain stupid, or manipulative even, for having been in these situations in the first place, and for either disclosing, or not disclosing, after the fact (and in many cases – you are wrong no matter which you choose).
It’s the objectification not of the body, but of the mind & of the soul, which leaves one naked and alone, even as we stand strong, and our voices rise together; so that we remain faceless, in the aftermath of a movement that we put so much hope into, and of which we have yet to see what the far-reaching outcomes will be.
Once the sculpture is completely dried and a patina applied, I will post more about her, with some video of the process, which if you have ever casted a clay sculpture in plaster, you know is quite an ordeal hehe!
Thank you so much for reading, and if you’d like to place a bid on this piece before it’s done (thus securing her for yourself in advance) please contact me here.
Complete sculpture – Objectification I – by Adesina.
Much love,
Adesina xo
Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is having a great day so far — I definitely am! I recently got to visit the house of one of my collectors, and LOOK — two of my “Rebirth” wine bottles from back in 2011!
It felt so good to see them displayed in a loving home setting, and to pick them up and remember all the time it took to paint them (30 hours just to paint the one with the eye – “New Sight Blooms”), not to mention how proud I felt to do all that work knowing 100% of the proceeds would benefit charity.
When I was first approached by Rawhouse Wine to paint these bottles, I was really excited, but honestly I was also overwhelmed, because I have a very detailed painting style, and I knew that painting six bottles, to the high standards I hold myself to, would be over 100 hours of work, and for free, since they were auctioned off for a children’s art & music charity.
But then I thought about when I was a child, and how badly I wanted to be an artist, but the NYC public school system was always cutting arts education, making it nearly impossible for me to get access to the training I needed. And I realized that I have to the power to help other little kids just like who I was all those years ago. So, I buckled down, joined team #nosleep lol, and I did it! And if I remember correctly, it was down to the wire and I was delivering the finished bottles something like the day before the auction, and up to the last minute, I still didn’t know if I’d be able to finish.
After the auction, I took two of the beautiful professional photos that Rod Savant took of the bottles, and sold them at an art show to benefit Artistic Dreams International, another children’s charity that I actually used to volunteer for, teaching drawing to underprivileged kids up in Harlem.
So you can imagine all the emotions I felt when I saw these two pieces again, still holding a place of honor in a home, so many years later. This is the legacy I wish to leave behind: Beautiful art & loving philanthropy, always.
What is the legacy you wish to leave behind? Perhaps there is something we can collaborate on, to help the community, and bring more beauty into the world? Feel free to leave a comment below, or message me here. I’d love to hear from you!
Love,
Adesina
It’s not always easy to find time to paint when I’m running around on camera. But it’s not for naught, because all that I’ve experienced helps me to refine my vision for one of my upcoming series.
This morning I dug out this unfinished painting, “Beauty Blinded,” from a few years ago; I’m not sure yet if I want to finish it or start anew. It’s part of that series I just mentioned, which I’ve been dreaming a lot about lately: Women + Mass Media (working title, hehe). After nearly eleven years working onscreen, I’ve seen for myself how this business affects us; both those of us in front of the camera, as well as those watching at home. And it’s something worth examining.
Growing up, I was taught that a person’s most important characteristics lie within: intelligence, talent, kindness and strength of character are traits to strive for. So I worked hard, earned top grades, and practiced my art & musical instruments with diligence. Focused in this way, I found little use for personal beautification, and that coupled with coke-bottle glasses and my nerdy nature, made for a rather homely presentation; but it did not bother me, because I knew I was a good person and that’s all that mattered.
Fast forward to many years later, I suddenly found myself on television — an unexpected turn that surprised me as much as anyone else. And I quickly discovered, that in this business, it’s not what’s inside that counts. In this industry, the most important thing is to be “beautiful.” And mind you, being beautiful on television, isn’t the same as being beautiful in real life. In real life, we think our friends, our mothers & sisters, our grandmothers & daughters, are beautiful not just because of the color of their eyes or shape of their face, but based on the content of their hearts. But on television, as in most mass media, beauty is very rigidly and narrowly defined. Despite talk of body positivity running rampant, so many of my colleagues are cutting themselves up with plastic surgery: I can’t tell you how many friends of mine didn’t “make it big” until after a boob job. Meanwhile, I myself have been admonished for the tiniest blemish (Horrors! An imperfection lol!), and then praised when I lost weight, even though I’m already quite thin. Rather like a dog who has retrieved a ball — “Good girl!” they say. Am I? Am I good? Because this kind of praise, as condescending as it is vacuous, doesn’t feel good.
And what about the viewers at home? What about the people connived into believing that their air-brushed celebrity crushes are as perfect as they appear, or that they too, at home, should aspire to squeeze and alter themselves to fit an unrealistic ideal in the name of self-improvement? And in my personal experience as a math & SAT tutor, I have discovered that so many little girls are more concerned with being pretty & popular rather than being smart, or even just being good human beings.
These conversations and thoughts are not new. We’ve been discussing this for decades. And when I was a child, my parents did not allow me to watch much television, in part for these very reasons — in my home, gender roles, unrealistic beauty standards, and the dangers of mass media consumption were topics for discussion. But now, having experienced first-hand the pressures that we, the women behind the scenes in media, are actually exposed to, I have something I’d like to add.
Working in the media, I could make a documentary about this subject, or conduct interviews; I could write a report or make a YouTube series. But since I am an artist first, perhaps I’ll just put brush to canvas and see where that leads me.
Thanks for reading, and as I’ve often said on the air, stay tuned.
