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Welcome to Artrageous with Nate and the Artist
in your Backyard.
Today, we're in Chicago, Illinois,
to overview some amazing artists.
You're going to get to meet some artists who do everything
from painting to collage to sculpture.
Let's go see who's working in your backyard.
Follow me.
We're here on the West Side of Chicago to see Bernard.
Bernard is a sculpture artist.
He makes everything from small scale to giant scale.
Let's go check out his space.
I started doing art in grade school,
drawing from comic books.
I studied painting.
My degrees are in painting and drawing.
But I started making sculpture after graduate school.
So I really kind of introduced that to my practice
after finishing school.
I think of what I'm doing now really
as kind of experimenting in the same way
that scientists do in laboratories.
They don't always know what they're
going to get at the end of an experiment.
So what are we looking at here as far as what you're creating?
Well, for me, this is the laboratory.
This is where I do my experiments, my research.
Sure.
And come up with my discoveries, you might say.
A lot of what's happening now in my studio
is a lot of experimentation and a lot of work
with found objects and a lot of work with new materials
that I haven't used before.
Again, these were found objects, broken bottle tops, toy parts.
This one actually moves.
Oh, there you go.
Yeah.
Stuff I get at the thrift store.
Tools, that was a screwdriver.
Knives.
Part of a comb over here.
It's just neat seeing.
I mean, like you're talking about where
you're finding kind of the materials or the inspiration.
You know, half the time we just walk right by half this stuff
and don't know what to do with it.
But it's cool.
And that's just like a glimpse into your process.
If you see something there that nobody else is seeing.
As a creator and that whole process,
that's really evolved over a long period of time, for me
personally as an artist.
Initially, I was very interested in drawing and kind
of representing things in the world.
But over time as I kind of explored
what it means to be an artist and what kind of things
other artists are doing, I think my interest really expanded
beyond just representation.
And I think I've really become very much interested in really
connecting with the world around me
and the things I see out in the world.
I'm always looking for something that doesn't cost me
a whole lot of money and I can kind of acquire
without too much difficulty.
So I've worked with broken glass, again, cardboard, paper.
I think really you can start by just kind of looking around
you and grabbing things that are available.
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Bernard's work was so interesting.
I love how he has small sculptures,
all the way to big ones.
What we're going to work with is one of his ideas using the foam
ball.
Let's take a look at what we're going to need.
The first thing we're going to need is a foam ball.
I picked this up at a local store.
It was pretty inexpensive, only a couple bucks.
The next thing I did have laying around
are these Popsicle sticks that connect to each other.
I've found an idea for these.
Next, I found some stuff in my garage, some odds and ends,
some door knobs, I've got some screws and some bolts.
And the first thing we're going to use,
which you're going to need, is some sort of paint.
I want to cover this first and then start designing.
Let's get started.
I chose a pretty bright color, which
is one thing I loved about Bernard's work.
Now that the paint's dry, I'm going
to go ahead and start the next step.
I think I want to make this kind of look like a person
or, I don't know, an alien.
So I'm actually going to use these as part of the legs.
The next thing I'm going to do is start building together
with these Popsicle sticks.
Now, you could glue together.
But honestly, they hold together pretty well on their own.
I don't know about you, but I think what
I'm creating looks pretty cool.
And it looks like crazy hair.
Even though it looks like I'm just
jabbing stuff in everywhere, I'm trying
to think of how to balance it.
So if something's over here, I want
to make something over here to make it balanced.
And maybe if I wanted this to look more
like alien-like or animal-like, I
could use these as kind of like eyes.
I'm going to stop for now.
But I got to admit, I'm having a lot of fun with this.
I can see why Bernard really likes
taking these found objects and making something pretty cool.
Until next time, remember, be creative,
be innovative, and be Artrageous.
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