Gender Kit - Over 20 Years In The Making

Yes, I know, 'over 20 years in the making' does make it sound much grander than it really is. Basically, I moulded and cast the genital sections for 'Gender Kit (Basic Model)' back in the 90s when I was an art student, with the intention of it being an accompanying piece to a much larger model kit sculpture that I'd made. But as is often the case, by the time I'd cast them my mind was already occupied with thoughts of other projects. So, from then until now the two pieces have just sat in a box and every year or so something would remind me of them and I'd think ' I must get round to finishing that piece someday'. Well, that day has finally arrived.

'Gender Kit (Basic Model)', 1998-2019, model kit-inspired sculpture by UK/British artist, Wayne Chisnall

As I mentioned in a previous post, the volunteers for the casting process involved in the construction of the two resin genital sections were myself and my then girlfriend and fellow art student; whose name, to help preserve her modesty, maybe I shouldn't mention over social media. However, what I will say is that when it did come to her part in the casting process there was an unfortunate, if not wholly unfunny, incident. It turned out that before applying the plaster of Paris (used to make the mould in which to cast the resin positive) we hadn't quite applied enough petroleum jelly (used to act as a release agent) to the pubic area in question. As such, once the cast had dried and we tried to remove it from her genital region we found that if had become firmly attached, having trapped quite a few pubic hairs in the process. Needless to say, it didn't help matters any that I then started to laugh; at which point I was ordered out of the room while the matter was angrily and painfully resolved. But I will say that the young lady was a bloody good sport for taking part.

The reason that I've attached '(Basic Model)' to the title of 'Gender Kit' is that I've been toying with the idea of making an elongated version of the piece that would include genital casts from the many graduations running along the female to male spectrum. Although, knowing how long it took me to get round to finishing this first one, and how hard it might prove in finding suitable volunteers for the casting process, I wouldn't hold my breath in waiting for the realisation of 'Gender Kit (Expanded Model)'.

'Gender Kit (Basic Model)', 1998-2019, model kit-inspired sculpture by UK/British artist, Wayne Chisnall

I'm not sure what prompted me to finish the work. Maybe it was someone commenting on my first model kit piece or maybe it's something to do with the whole issue of gender being more relevant now than ever before. Either way, I'd like to say a big thank you to a dear friend, Ian Fenton, for 3D printing the sprue/runner corner sections, T junctions and domed end pieces for me. This made the construction of the sculpture so much easier and vastly more stable than with my earlier model kit-inspired pieces. Which brings me round to the inspiration behind the work. As a child in the early 70s I was obsessed with horror movie characters, dinosaurs, super heroes and space ships, and would spend hours of fun and frustration building model kit versions of them. So I'd like to say a massive thank you to Airfix and the other model kit companies (and the modellers who created the original models which were then turned into kit form) for that element of my formative years.  

'And When I'm a Man, I'll Think As a Man', model kit-inspired sculpture by UK/British artist, Wayne Chisnall

The much larger model kit-inspired sculpture that 'Gender Kit' was initially intended to be an accompanying piece to is my 'And When I'm a Man, I'll Think As a Man' sculpture, which I also started (and managed to finish) during the second year of my BA Fine Art degree way back in the 90s. Incidentally the photo you see here of 'And When I'm a Man, I'll Think As a Man', which includes me for scale (I used to just show photographs of the work on its own but people would often presume that the sculpture was an actual model kit, about 8" across), not just vanity, was taken many years after I constructed the sculpture. It was shot by the photographer, Phil Sofer (thanks mate), in 2011 at the Scream gallery in Mayfair, London, where I was exhibiting a number of sculptures at the time.

Apologies that some of the text and one of the images in this post is lifted from my earlier 'Work In Progress' post, but it seemed relevant to include them here.

Art Recyclism

I'm delighted to announce that I'm now part of Art-Recyclism and would like to thank the award-winning artist, Oskar Krajewski, (the driving force behind the group) for inviting me onboard and for featuring my sculptures on their new website.

Detail from 'The City' sculpture by British artist, Wayne Chisnall.

Art-Recyclism's goal is to promote sustainability through art and work with artists who create work using recycled/reclaimed materials. As the website's mission statement says,

" A Visionary Recycling Artist’s role is to inspire and be inspired by scientists, experiment with materials, guide and visually entertain the public.

At Recyclism we pledge to make people environmentally aware through beauty and ingenuity.

We are suffocating our planet with plastic and we believe that Art can play an important role in our survival."

'Tattooed Tumour Box', sculpture by British artist, Wayne Chisnall.

We all understand that recycling alone isn't going to save the planet (or rather, our lives on the planet - the planet will roll on nicely with or without us thank you very much) but it is one of many important steps that we should be taking. Cue another piece of text lifted from the website -

"Recyclism is a very current theme and hot topic in the world right now. It is a platform to show the world how to transform our waste into beautiful and useful objects. This is not something new, artists have been working with reclaimed materials for the past century but it has never been more relevant than now.

The Objective for Recyclism is to challenge our consumerist society and fly in the face of the multiple corporates who show a disdain for sustainability."

'Planetoid 210', sculpture by British artist, Wayne Chisnall.

If you are an artist who makes work from reclaimed materials, and you would like to get involved with Art-Recyclism and have your work featured on the website, Facebook page and Instagram page then please feel free to get in contact. Similarly, if you are passionate about environmental issues and feel that you might have something to contribute to Recyclism, or that we could collaborate with you and help promote your cause, then also please feel free to get in touch.

Email: info@art-recyclism.com

Kitchen Cannibal

Pholcus Phalangioides (aka the Daddy-long Legs Spider, aka the Long-bodied Cellar Spider, aka the Skull Spider), the subject of my latest painting, is my favourite house spider. My house/studio in Shropshire is full of the little beauties; which is odd because it wasn't until I moved to London, from Shropshire, about twenty years ago that I first saw one of these creatures. Which is starting to make me wonder if the reason that I'm now surrounded by them is that I brought them with me when I relocated my studio back up here to the Shire.

 

'Kitchen Cannibal' by British/UK artist, Wayne Chisnall.

One of the reasons that I like them so much, apart from the fact that they keep down the fly/bug population, is that they are content to just hang upside down in a corner somewhere keeping perfectly still for hours, if not days at a time. Unlike those big, fast-moving, hairy-legged spiders that like to startle you by running across the back of the sofa just as you've settled down to watch a film for the night. Incidentally, as well as eating bugs, Pholcus also eats other spiders (which might account for the reason that I've not recently seen as many of the big, fast-moving buggers as I used to), even occasionally resorting to cannibalism and eating of its own species.

'Kitchen Cannibal' (detail) by British/UK artist, Wayne Chisnall.

It's Pholcus's patient inactivity that makes it the perfect artist's model. This one had set up home in my kitchen, next to the toaster. I initially intended the painting to be little more than a quick oil sketch, which is exactly what the central section featuring the spider is. However, once I began I soon got a bit carried away with the flow in the lower section of the painting, playing with the paint and enjoying the emerging forms.

Gender Kit - Work In Progress

'Gender Kit (Basic Model)', the sculpture that I'm currently working on, is a prime example of my relaxed attitude to the concept of a work ethic. I cast the two genital sections of the sculpture over twenty years ago, back in the 90s when I was an art student. From then until now the two pieces had just sat in a box and every year or so something would remind me about them and I'd think ' I must get round to finishing that piece someday'. Well, that day has now come round.

'Gender Kit' sculpture (work in progress) by British artist, Wayne Chisnall

The volunteers for the casting process involved in the construction of the two resin genital sections were myself and my then girlfriend and fellow art student (whose name, to help preserve her modesty, maybe I shouldn't mention here over social media). There's a funny story about the casting of her section but I'll mention that in the next post about the sculpture, once it's completed.

I'm not sure what prompted me to finish the work. Maybe it was someone commenting on my first model kit piece or maybe it's something to do with the whole issue of gender being more relevant now than ever before. Either way, I'd like to say a big thank you to a dear friend, Ian Fenton, for 3D printing the sprue/runner corner sections, T junctions and domed end pieces for me. This made the construction of the sculpture so much easier and vastly more stable than with my earlier model kit-inspired pieces. Which brings me round to the inspiration behind the work. As a child in the early 70s I was obsessed with horror movie characters, dinosaurs, super heroes and space ships, and would spend hours of fun and frustration building model kit versions of them. So I'd like to say a massive thank you to Airfix and the other model kit companies (and the modellers who created the original models which were then turned into kit form) for that element of my formative years.   

'And When I'm a Man, I'll Think As a Man' model kit-inspired sculpture by British artist, Wayne Chisnall

This sculpture was initially intended to be an accompanying piece to my much larger model kit-inspired sculpture, 'And When I'm a Man, I'll Think As a Man', which I also started (and managed to finish) during the second year of my BA Fine Art degree way back in the 90s. Incidentally the photo you see here of 'And When I'm a Man, I'll Think As a Man', which includes me for scale (I used to just show photographs of the work on its own but people would often presume that the sculpture was an actual model kit, about 8" across), not just for vanity, was taken many years after I constructed the sculpture. It was shot by the photographer, Phil Sofer (thanks mate), in 2011 at the Scream gallery in Mayfair, London, where I was exhibiting a number of sculptures at the time.