Australian sculptor Ronald “Ron” Mueck (born 1958, in Melbourne) grew up in the family business of puppetry and doll-making. After spending time working in the family industry, Mueck turned to sculpture. He first came to public attention with his sculpture “Dead Dad” a portrayal of his recently deceased father – at roughly half-scale which was included in the 1997 exhibition Sensation at the Royal Academy of Arts, in London.
Mueck’s works appeared as part of SKIN, at the Ferens Art Gallery, which included Wild Man, (featured above) and a few other Mueck sculptures. His sculptures are renown for their minute details of the human body, playing with scale to produce engrossing visual images (a style known as hyperrealism). Mueck wants his audience to believe that his figures are experiencing certain emotions and for us to empathise with these feelings.
- Wild Man (2005) shows signs of extreme anxiety, even terror; as he grips the stool and his toes press down onto the floor. Despite the sculptures height (approx. 3 meters high), Mueck has made him look doubly vulnerable. (He is made from polyester resin, fibreglass, silicone, aluminium, wood and synthetic hair).
- OKSEP street art can be found around Melbourne’s streets and laneways. His work is extremely dark and somewhat disturbing. He has borrowed upon Wild Man and has re-imagined it with one of his dark and ghostly characters, grasping him on the thigh, shouting Oksep!
What Oksep really means is unclear. It could be the name of the street artist, or according to LookDef Oksep (Verb) is the part of speech that expresses existence, action, or occurrence. Or it could be an acronym for Pesko, Spokes or Pokes. Who knows? However, further examples of his street art can be viewed on Street Freak site on Flickr.
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