Upon entering his studio the viewer is confronted with murals of mathematics calligraphy and large intricate shiny objects that resemble birds, reptiles, musical instruments, all of mysterious origin. A closer examination revealed that they are made of plastic cutlery. Sasha Meret’s recent works are sculptural constructions of polystyrene spoons, forks and knives by the hundreds; some are white, some shiny, dark and metallic, often with whimsical layering. These forms grow into otherworldly half-animal, half-bird, alien, reptile predators; yet at the same time they a reduced to docile museum artifacts through the artistic process.
“The Plastic Menagerie” /”Occupy Body” is the title of his current exhibit, lending his polystyrene sculptures to clothing and creating wearable armor-like pieces. His imagery reflects a lengthy spiritual exploration, a blend of European, African, Asian, and esoteric symbolism resulting in a highly personal visual language both erotic and exotic.
We introduce to you Sasha Meret and our editorial blending the lines of art & fashion.
Photography: Sailey Williams
Styling; Llewellyn Jenkins @ Barboza & Associates . Chad Groom @ The Stylemonsters NYC
MUA: Griselle Rosario @ Ken Barboza & Associates
Hair: Mann Nance @ Ken Barboza & Associates
Production Assistant: Louie Garay Jr.
Model(s): Ola @ MC2 . Deric @ Soul
Interview: Bryen Bumbarger
How long have u been exploring cutlery sculpture?
It started about three years ago, while sitting in my studio kitchen and wondering how to do a molding for a wing that I wanted to cover with nails. I was eating soup with regular metallic cutlery and looking at the discarded plastic spoon (that I do not like to use, I feel that plastic doesn’t go well with food) …and said to myself that is an excellent inexpensive module to create the rhythm of feathers on a wing. So actually my first finished work was not the wing but a full size umbrella made from around four thousand spoons. The title of the piece is – “Fifty Percent Chance of Soup”..
You said u don’t plan the form, but allow it to flow through you, where do you feel your inspiration comes from and how and what do you do to get your creative juices flowing?
Working without a strict plan is pure joy! It is pure freedom! I have no idea in the morning what I will have at the end of the day. One can’t be wrong that way! As long as you can surprise yourself, having fun is a sure thing. I keep quoting this Pre-Columbian old saying “If you want to make the Gods laugh tell them you have a plan”.
Don’t get me wrong – I do a certain degree of planning. I actually have a weekly planner that for the past five years became a project in itself… but that wasn’t planned! ..hahaha
As for creative juices, I have no idea where they are coming from. It is a gigantic Amazon-like stream that I let myself float on in whatever direction it takes me. Sometimes I feel on the verge of being overwhelmed with this flood of ideas, but then I take one step back (or one stroke back) and I tell to myself that one just can’t drink all the water from the Amazon.
Is there a specific inspiration outside Dadaists that you draw your style from?
Any tentative association with Dadaism could be attributed to a certain degree of anarchism manifested in my working style or to my “anti-war’ and all kinds of other reasonable “anti” positioning’s in my social standings. I do not intend to practice programmatic art and any manifestations of such are mostly the product of the subconscious. One can link a hint of Dada in my work to my Romanian ancestry, the movement having as catalysts several artists originally from Romania.
Also the movement laid the foundation of Surrealism that was a strong influence to my beginnings in art. But really the influences are coming from everything that surrounds us. Intuitively, I tend to feel that everything is interconnected. I also flirt with the Jungian concept of Synchronicity, which states that related events have a tendency to attract each other. All this is more or less tongue-in-cheek labeling, and that is something that I usually try to avoid.
When and how did you first decide to juxtapose cutlery with the human form?
This could be one of the Synchronicity cases I was mentioning earlier. In my first explorations of 3D art I was altering the perception of everyday objects by covering them with incongruous materials. My first one was an ironic replica to Damien Hirst ‘s diamond skull (“For the Love of God”) – a life size replica of a human skull covered with thumb tacks. At one point I thought of covering a life size mannequin with nails. At about the same time, I was in a subway car when I saw a young couple carrying a good quality mannequin.
They said it came from the Virgin Mega-store that was going out of business. I changed my destination and stopped by the store to find out that they were closing in one hour. They had 13 splendid mannequins left which they offered me for a bargain price if I would take them right then. I called a car service for a big SUV and that’s how my studio became populated by all these beautiful human bodies (besides mine, of course…haha).
In parallel I was experimenting with photography, covering my models with thumb tacks, mirrors, butterflies, etc. Then one thing lead to another: nails became cutlery, skin became clothing and then there was Alexander McQueen’s Savage Beauty show at the Met that only confirmed to me that I am going in the right direction.
You make sketches and models based off of your day planner. Would you ever want to turn one of these into a 3D cutlery sculpture?
Not into cutlery sculpture because that would defy my so called “anarchic style”. However I am working currently on the project “Age-n-Dada, 2010”. This project is constructed around the daily entries made in my appointment book for 2010. The imagery on each spread is built loosely around the text of my working schedule for each week of the year. Creating these shapes was a long meditative process similar with automatic dictation (aka Surrealism) but avoiding any figuration. Using markers with colored ink and metallic gold and silver inks, the writing was gradually covered by layers over layers of grids.
They resemble the warped graphic representations of a Space-Time continuum as an attempt to capture the visual essence of the energy of that week. On most spreads, there is a shadow drawing, generated by the ghost image seen through the paper from the drawing on the other side. Most of the drawings were made during my commute from home to my studio and back, occupying the so called negative time generated during traveling or different other periods of waiting.
The main art work is the agenda with the original drawings accompanied by (an edition of five) 52 digital prints – 11″ x 8.5″ each – of the spreads corresponding to each week of the year. On the first edition each digital print is reworked with, again gold and silver metallic paint markers, the drawing going beyond the original format (7″ x 7.5″) until a satisfactory balance is achieved. The project is continuing with 3D renderings of each drawing that will be 3D printed creating 52 objects that will correspond to each print.
How do you decide the color, texture and tonality of the cutlery?
I am choosing a metallic look when I want to render a more aggressive vibe or the white for a more serene one. But most of the time the decision is at an intuitive level. I just feel what I have to use and later I understand why.
What forms in nature help influence the pieces you design?
Basically I was always fascinated with what you can do with modules. I have the widest range of sources from Quantum Physics to the art of Escher. I let the shape and texture of the materials guide me. Every shape becomes a challenge, a problem to solve. I like the way Chuck Close puts it an interview, saying that the important thing is not to solve the problem but to find a new one! I like to start with the “clean slate” attitude of a creator who just has a module and playfully assembles the first shape ever.
Are there any specific movements that are informing the way you think or your sculpture at this time?
I am not aware of any specific influence. Serendipity is my guiding principle. I’d like to think that the world was created like that (but that could be too optimistic).
Sometimes I feel that I am just a vehicle for the actions of another entity and I am just enjoying the ride.
Do you prefer creating your own form or recreating traditional pieces like the high heel, guitar extra that you were able to recreate with plastic ware?
I definitively prefer to create new forms. The “recognizable” object period was just a phase. I was already starting a new series of imaginary creatures when Emilio Steinberger from Haunch of Venison Gallery suggested to me, after viewing my portfolio that he would like to see some invented shapes. This only confirmed that I was riding the optimum wave.
Do you look more to fashion or sculpture when searching for inspiration or become stuck on a project?
I do not look at it in those terms. Nowadays most borders and categories are dissolving into each other. I am not preoccupied with definitions and labels.
That is the realm of art historians, critics, the public… I just enjoy what I am doing.