I will admit, as a blogger it’s getting harder and harder to find post titles that can adequately one-up the last “mindblowing”, “amazing”, or “mind-expanding” post I needed to share with you. “Amazingness” and “HO. LY. CRAP.” are my current favorites, but when I came across the sculptures of Kris Kuksi I felt I needed to get the full message across, because these days it’s all too easy for a great artist to go unnoticed because of an uncatchy title. Therefore “Kris Kuksi’s Sculptures Will Make You Shit Your Pants” seemed highly appropriate (but yes, it does leave me scratching my head as to how I will top it when I find my next great discovery). Kris’s pieces are some of the most intricate and detailed I have ever seen, and they convey a gravity of thought, expression, and meaning that will blow you away at first sight. If you’re as fascinated by this artist as I am, you’ll be equally as interested in his bio:
Born March 2, 1973, in Springfield Missouri and growing up in neighboring Kansas, Kris spent his youth in rural seclusion and isolation along with a blue-collar, working mother, two significantly older brothers, and an absent father. Open country, sparse trees, and an alcoholic stepfather, all paving the way for an individual saturated in imagination and introversion. His propensity for the unusual has been a constant since childhood, a lifelong fascination that lent itself to his macabre art later in life. The grotesque to him, as it seemed, was beautiful. Kris Kuksi garners recognition and acclaim for the intricate sculptures that result from his unique and meticulous technique. A process that requires countless hours to assemble, collect, manipulate, cut, and re-shape thousands of individual parts, finally uniting them into an orchestral-like seamless cohesion that defines the historical rise and fall of civilization and envisions the possible future(s) of humanity. Each sculpture embodies the trademarks of his philosophy and practice, while serving as a testament to the multifaceted nature of perception – From timeless iconic references of Gods and Goddess, to challenging ideas of organized religion and morality, to the struggle to understand, and bend, the limits of mortality. None is complete without a final and brilliant touch of satire and rebuke all conceived in the aesthetic essence of the Baroque fused with the modern day industrial world.
As gorgeous as these following images are, you will be even more stunned when you visit his website. Before you begin I suggest you take it seriously since you might be inside of it for a while: prepare a coffee or tea, a few biscuits, turn off your phone, and dive into one of the most impressive bodies of artistic work you will ever encounter. Take the jump into Kuksi.com.
