The Horse And Rider

In addition to creating Ye Olde Sea Dog back in the sculpture shop at Northwest Missouri State University, I also started a horse and rider figure.  Several artists have created their interpretation of the classic horse and rider combo at some point in their careers.  Not wanting to miss out on all of the fun, I decided I should try my hand at it.

Here are a couple of pictures of it in the shop about a week or two before I moved back to the QCA.  Much like Ye Olde Sea Dog, this piece has sat in storage for nearly two years waiting to be finished.  Unlike Ye Olde Sea Dog, which from nearly its very beginning I had a painted construction I wished to pair it with, it took awhile before I realized I was working on a canvas piece that could benefit from having a three-dimensional partner/counterpoint.

A close up of the back legs.

If some of the wood used to make the horse looks familiar, it may be because it bears more than a passing resemblance to wood that may, or may not, have been reused from this project...

If you happen to be feeling nostalgic for some quality time with allinitogether, you can read more about it by clicking this LINK.

Anyway, after I moved back to the QCA in 2016, I showed it off to the 4'-Assassin immediately before stashing it in storage.  Here I am holding its head in place (*Note: It has a pretty spiffy tail that is not seen in any of these pictures AND The 4'-Assassin isn't 4' tall anymore...).

Enough with the history lessons, I am finally back in a shop where I can work on the piece again.  Here it is reassembled and ready to be finished.

Now I'm starting to add the torso of the rider.

I let this configuration gestate for a day or two before I modified the body and added the beginnings of a face.

I still need to fabricate and add a helmet and a lance.

The path to its present day form for Quest(Shun) has been far from a straight line.  You can see it evolution by checking out these earlier posts (Part I, Part II, and Part III).  But once the cowboy/conquistador/Don Quixote element was added, the piece not only came together quickly, it also opened up the delightful possibility of being paired with a horse and rider (Quixote himself?) sculpture.

In order to reinforce the connections and expand the interpretations, I am also working on a cowboy piece.  This is the original silhouette which gave a conceptual direction to Quest(Shun) and helped bring about the Don Quixote interpretation.

This cowboy piece will receive its own post in the near future...

Pop Culture Palimpsest opens in just a few weeks.  You can read more about the show by visiting The Figge Art Museum's website HERE!