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The Process of Carving: Kokophili

The Creation of Kokopelli / Kokophili


Kokophili: Kokopelli
In Celebration of The Music Maker
2001-2009
Cararra Italian Marble

A Fortieth Birthday Gift
(begun five years early & delivered two years late)
For Philip Karl Tubesing,
Son, Scientist & Itinerant Musician Extraordinaire

Photos below and right, The Research: 2002–2004




 

PART ONE: THE PREPARATION   2001-2006

  • The Concept    2001-2002

Why not design and create a sculpture for Phil that would celebrate his great love of music, his energetic participation in several orchestras and bands across the State and his growing rootedness in the great American Southwest?

  • The Research  2002-2004

The Kokopelli Symbolism and Legend

Ah, what about the prehistoric pied piper, Kokopelli, who roamed the region 1,500 years ago.  Celebrated on stone walls and outcroppings across the landscape, this modern icon of the Southwest—a deity, trickster, wandering Casanova, good luck charm, fun-loving, insect-like, musician with a backpack—was always surrounded by abstract figures, animals and humans, all in celebration. This persona of many faces was at once jaunty, comical, dignified, purposeful, and joyful.  Playing his flute while standing, walking, sitting, kneeling or reclining, he danced his way across cultural and linguistic boundaries appearing at will and at his own timing from the Alberta mountains to the Mexican desert.

Could this ancient life form of yesterday energize itself into the symbol of a modern day wandering musician who drags along soprano, alto, tenor and baritone Saxophones to every gig—just in case? Could the old festivals of the flute morph into the lively concerts of the Baritone Saxophone, with its light-hearted runs, foundational bass, and humorous honks?  Why not?


 

 

Stone Selection

Let’s be blunt here.If David can have his marble from the mountain of the Gods in Cararra, Italy, then Philip certainly deserves some Cararra, even if he cannot yet have his Michelangelo. So, off on a family trip (tax deductible for research purposes) to Italy we go! Scouring backyards and stone yard supply depots, and piles of off cut “waste,” we locate just the right piece, at just the right price—albeit, not yet at just the right location. Hence a transport challenge now enters the picture.

Photography #1: Musician and Instrument

And who would best serve as the model for the artwork’s design? None other than the subject of the sculpure himself. So, next off to the rigors (and dangers) of the paparazzi's trade, where the subject is not always as willing as we might have hoped.


  • The Design      2003-2006

Sketches/Drawings

What shall this sculpture resemble? What style and form does it require? Formal? Realistic? Abstract? And, what emotion should it convey?  Reflective? Energetic? Playful?



3-D Clay Model

Time to get serious and try out the form in 3-D.  Will it fit into the stone? What compromises are required? How much detail can be included? Well, here’s a form of the idea that will help get this project started.

NEXT


KOKOPHILI: PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6

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