Sculptural artwork is an effortless way to bring art and dimension into home décor. Whether it’s a small piece on a shelf or a large statement sculpture in an entryway, the right artwork can elevate any room. Thoughtful placement, lighting, and display techniques ensure these pieces stand out. Homedit explored Miami Art Week and found some of the most fun, funky, and creative sculptures—here are our favorites.
These blinged-out buddha figures were one of the first things we saw. Created by German-born Metis Atash, they are inspired by love and the people of Bali. As the Aldo Castillo Gallery writes, her works “combine conceptual, minimalist, and pop art traditions.”
“Data Center” by New Jersey artist Alex Dikowski is a commentary on popular culture and media. His website says that “his mixed media art works often refer to pop and mass culture. By rejecting the widely accepted criteria of progress in a civilized society, his works reference an alternative view of our economic, technological, and social state of affairs.”
Athletic, faceless figures climbing up the wall are engaging and interesting. Created by Colombia’s Ancizar Marin, they are made from fiberglass and auto paint. Fascinated by sculpture since his teens, Marin creates all kinds of art work using materials including chrome, bronze, volcano rock, wood, resin and fiberglass.
Angela Ellsworth’s Seer Bonnet is part of a series of pioneer bonnets that are covered in thousands of steel, pearl-tipped corsage pins. The beautifully adorned outside is a contrast to the painful looking interior. The bonnets are meant to represent the 35 wives of Mormon founder Joseph Smith. “Ellsworth re-imagines this community of women with their own visionary and revelatory powers, as they pioneer new personal histories,” write her website.
Busts have been a fixture in art collections for centuries, and today’s artists are showing a fresh take on the concept in a variety of ways. Primarily known for his paintings, Willy Ramos also creates Gauguin-esque sculptures such as this one. We are particularly taken by the combination of abstract features with more realistic ones.
A ceramic bust from the Arte Collective is haunting, thanks to the expressive eye and face. At the same time, this art work is a bit funky thanks to the neck of the bust.
A classically shaped bust gets a new spin from neon colors and pop art styling by Greek artist Thanasis Lalas. Lalas is first a writer and publisher, who changed the course of his life, focusing on art and artists, after randomly meeting Andy Warhol.
Sculptor Elsa Marina Losada, working under the title Elmar, is a plastic artist, muralist and sculptures. She paints with different techniques such as oils, acrylic on canvas, and ceramic tiles which she uses to create murals and other pieces. This bright and colorful bust is somewhat cubist and we love it.
Manolo Valdés works across mediums, producing witty art works that include drawings, paintings, and sculptures. His pieces examine social topics and everyday issues. This sculptural take on the bust of a woman is quirky and fun.
These tribal-like art works are covered with teal colored beetle wings, threads and fibers. Fiber artist Star Trauth creates her totems using traditional fiber art materials along with unconventional materials. She begins with the cylindrical canvas, adding elements that she finds interesting, such as metal, bark, insect parts, and paper.
A fantastic mermaid sculpture by the Athens Gallery is highlighted by neon light and plexiglass. Again, part classic, part modern, this is a sculpture that would dominate a larger space.
This art work, also from the Athens Gallery is rustic, overall, but features spectacular glass work in the body of the fish. Illuminated from behind, the fish seems to glow.
Covered with colorful fused glass pieces, this thoughtful mannequin strikes a pose. Blink Art Resources and Banz Studios presented the piece, along with other magnificent glass installation art work.
Sculptor Brian Russell draws inspiration from forms and rhythms in nature, ancient artifacts, math, and science. His works are organic, modern and colorful. Originally working as photographer, he became snared of working with his hands. After doing some carving with stone and wood, he moved on to large sculptures made from scrap steel and industrial detritus.
Artist Daniela Arboleda’s mixed media installation includes this colorful cow. Arboleda is passionate about color and her talents span art, advertising, and writing. the Ecuadorian artist and her husband founded ARTbrand, which is a team of professional communicators and artists producing plastic and digital art work, some of which is used in advertising
Dressmakers’ mannequins have been popular in home decor for some time, but this monochrome work is different. From the texture of the papier-mâché dress on the form to the style of the “garment,” it has a bet of an otherworldly feel.
The French-born, Los Angeles artist Thierry Guetta, known as Mr. Brainwash, took up street art after working as videographer and used clothing store. A friend of the well-known but secretive and unidentified Banksy, Mr. Brainwash makes all sorts of creative art work including paintings. It has also been alleged that Guetta’s connection to Banksy is more than casual.
Vibrantly embellished musical instruments make for a colorful display. The painting turns discarded instruments into sculptural art works.
Called art and not taxidermy, Florida artist Enrique Gomez de Molina creates pieces by sewing together parts of exotic animals, creating new creatures. Although he works to raise awareness of the extinction of exotic creatures, the artist was jailed for 20 months for smuggling endangered wildlife into the United States.
These sculptures are created by NONOS, the artistic team of sisters Franziska and Mercedes Welte. The duo creates the figures from metals, polymers, non-fading pigments, epoxy resin and fiberglass.
Art master Harry Bertoia created this culture from melt-coated brass over steel. The artist created variations on this piece in a variety of sizes, from room-size screen installations to smaller tabletop sculptural art works.
Trained as an engineer, sculptor Jim Keller turned a lifelong love of wood into a new career as a studio artist. His staten says the he works to “combine the circular form, fair curves and drama with the character and natural beauty of a piece of wood, to create a sculpture highlighting natural edges and negative space to create an individual unique sculpture.”
Full body sculptures are a great addition to a space and this one is interesting for its shiny material, monochrome coloring and deflated appearance. It’s such a natural body pose, yet the inordinately long and thin legs and “empty” user body make it a bit Tim Burton-esque.
Some of us are old enough to remember the wax faux fruit that our grandparents kept as decor but this is oh so much better. Giant, shiny pop-art cherries make for a slick piece of sculptural art work. The collection includes a variety of fruits that are sparkly and spiky.
Brianna Martray is a painter, sculptor and installation artist who loves to paint with her hands. After a long journey through many careers, and a constant flow of paintings, she fortuitously met a sculptor who introduced her to the methods and techniques the she now uses. Martray’s art works feature biomorphic shapes, with which she is fascinated.
Venezuelan artist Gian Pablo Polito Sculco is know for his humorous pieces, like this melting Rubkis Cube. Although his pieces are currently in the Pop Art genre, he does not rule out evolving into other type of work. He write: “I look for the intimate part of the human being, the childish, those memories of a child that one never sees forgotten, the joys, the toys and the tastes that you treasure for the rest of your life.”
Artist Troy Abbott may be best known for his digital birds in cages, but this unusual lion sculptures drew a great deal of attention at the Miami art fairs. Covered in feathers, fur and an alligator hide back, it is a dramatic and intricately constructed art work made from an unexpected collection of materials.
From unusual to traditional, to pop art and abstract — there is a style of sculpture that will appeal to almost anyone. As with other art mediums, find the style and pieces that speak to you and build a collection to enhance your life and your home decor. Whether you can afford to start with well-known artists, or focus on up-and-coming or local artists, try to make sculptural art work a part of your home.
