Extraordinary in the ordinary: These warped works will melt your mind

“Sculpture” is a broad term.

Encompassing everything from marble statues by masters like Rodin and Michelangelo, to Alexander Calder’s hypnotic mobiles and Lynda Benglis’ organic forms – not to mention the playful Pop art characters of KAWS and Kohei Nawa’s mutated taxidermy – it’s a fairly large tent.

Taking up their own corner are contemporary sculptors manipulating everyday objects and motifs to give a playful, warped spin on reality, either to provoke thought, express larger concepts, or simply spark joy.

“My practice as an artist is to make my ideas come to life so that people can enjoy them,” says London artist Nancy Fouts, who’s manipulated everything from shuttlecocks to baby chicks.

“I love to secretly watch people looking at my work, smiling, laughing and wondering. This is my reward.”

Look through the gallery below for works from international artists bringing out the extraordinary in everyday objects.

"Purse With Teeth" by Nancy Fouts (2010) —

US-born artist Nancy Fouts creates startling surreal sculptures from her London studio, taking inspiration from everyday objects around her.

"Ladybird Pill Packet" by Nancy Fouts (2012) —

"Of course, when someone buys my work it is rewarding too. But nothing beats just showing my work to the public."

"Egg Cock" by Nancy Fouts (2011) —

"I continuously ask myself, as if i did not know the answer, 'What else does this look like, what else looks like it?'" Fouts says.

"Ducklings in Glass Dome" by Nancy Fouts (2015) —

"Children's reactions are the best. A child asked me recently (after looking at one of my birds in a glass dome) 'How do you feed it? When do you let the bird out?' They don't analyze. They think, 'why not?' rather than 'why'," she says.

"Egg Birth" by Nancy Fouts (2011) —

"I love to secretly watch people looking at my work, smiling, laughing and wondering. This is my reward."

"Rigorous" by Adam Niklewicz (2016) —

Adam Nikewicz also uses everyday objects in his work. However, for him, humor and irony are paramount.

"Untitled" by Adam Niklewicz (2008) —

"Society would rather make you believe reality can be sanitized, streamlined and made predictable. I think I make art to poke holes in that illusion," he says. "There isn't enough humor in art."

"Sometime Last January I Awoke in the Morning With My Hand Up" by Adam Niklewicz (2005) —

"I like to be surprised by my own work. 'Sometime Last January I Awoke in the Morning With My Hand Up' has caught me by surprise, and therefore figures among my favorites."

"Hyperallergic" by Adam Niklewicz (2016) —

"I've heard people describe my work as poetic -- I'm all for this description. I also don't mind being called a surrealist, but I'd object to being called a Dada artist. Surrealism affirms reality and expands on it, but Dada merely rejects and belittles it."

"Dining Table" by Michael Beitz (2010) —

Michael Beitz, who previously worked as a furniture-maker, gives common objects a literal twist to comment on different elements of the human condition. "Dining Table," for example, is meant to look at "the silent tension that often exists between close people and the inability to communicate," he says.

"Table" —

"My practice is a sort of hybrid between art and design," Beitz says. "I am interested in working with ideas and integrating them into the world of everyday objects and spaces."

"Knot" by Michael Beitz (2015) —

Beitz calls "Knot," his and favorite sculpture since leaving the furniture trade, "essentially the cancellation of the sofa form and all that it represents, comfort and leisure."

"I personally find my work very sad and serious, but its pleasing that people find it playful and funny. Isn't it true that the truly funny things often come from uneasy places?"

"Laughing Stone" by Hirotoshi Ito —

In Japanese artist Hirotoshi Ito's work, the nature and civilization collide in humorous stone works. He, however, rejects any surrealist labeling.

"I was influenced as much as by the spirit of fun that Japanese traditional crafts have as by some works of surrealists," he says.

"Delicious Stone" by Hirotoshi Ito —

However, like Niklewicz, Ito says humor is at the core of what he does.
"I am trying to put humor and poison to my works. If people smile looking at my works, then I (consider that) the best evaluation."

"Fossil of the Gadget" by Hirotoshi Ito —

"The interesting thing is that the people's reaction is not so different between the countries," Ito says. "People ask me 'Is it a stone?', so I answer 'Yes, it's a stone.' My conversations with the visitors begin with these simple words."

"Untitled" by Myeongbeom Kim —

Expanding on the theme of the natural, Korean artist Myeongbeom Kim typically works with trees and other plant life (and, in this case, a taxidermy deer). Kim has had solo shows in South Korea, China, France, Puerto Rico and the US.

"Untitled" by Myeongbeom Kim —

"Most people think that I am a surrealist, but I am not sure," Kim says. "I am still trying to find myself in the realities of life."

"Untitled" by Myeongbeom Kim —

For Kim, the goal is to express his personal relationship with the natural world.
"I see my environment from the viewpoint of life," Kim says. "I have consistently experienced my surrounding objects from the perspective of life, growth, and decline, which lends vitality to my work."

Melt your mind with these surreal works of art

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