Nathan Foster
I am a freshman at Massart who majors in illustration. I have done almost entirely illustrative works for most of my artistic life, but in the foundation year I have really enjoyed learning different methods of sculpture and 3-dimensional art. I grew up in a medium sized city so I haven't had many encounters with animals in their natural habitat, but the ones I have had encounters with have been very moving and inspirational for me. My favorite of these is when I worked as a camp counselor and had a white-tailed deer walk very close to me and stand there a while before walking away. It was the first time I had felt another animal's presence and really wondered about and considered it.
White Tailed Deer
White tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), also known just as whitetail, are a very common animal, and for this reason they are often overlooked because of how well documented and known they are. The reason these animals are so common is actually a result of overpopulation due to a lack of natural predators. Widespread deforestation has gotten rid of the habitats for a lot of the animals that would hunt them, ex. Mountain Lions, Wolves, and Cougars. Because of this, deer are the most popular animals to hunt in the world, with hunters killing an average of 6 million deer per year. While this may sound bad, the overpopulation would be much worse, and lead to the destruction of their own habitat and starvation. I personally am always interested on what is going on on the inside, and what makes things work, which is why I feel this animal has to be explained. Deer are everywhere, and while it may not be essential, learning how they are built and what makes them tick can bring people one step closer to learning about the natural world around them.
My Project
Through my blog posts and recordings of my work, I intend to educate a wider audience not only on how to create sculptures and three dimensional objects out of different materials, but also on how the white tailed deer functions. To this end I will create four sculptures of a similar size, each showcasing a different aspect or layer of the deer. The first will be the skeletal system with wire, the second will be the organs with clay and fabric, and the third will be the muscular system with wire. The fourth and final will be the shape of the deer and what it looks like from the outside with its skin and antlers, for which I will use clay. I am by no means an expert with any of these materials, so I look forward to sharing my experimentation and process while explaining what I have learned about the functions of these various systems. Below are two of the reference images I will use when constructing the models.
