Ron Mueck Artist Essay

Some sculptures of the human form release a certain presence, feeling or emotion that they are more than just objects. Ron Mueck represents this concept or idea throughout his realistic sculptures. Ron Mueck is an Australian hyperrealist sculptor working in the United Kingdom. Formally a model-maker and puppeteer for children’s television and film, Mueck has been creating fine art sculptures of the human form since 1996. Using many materials such as; resin, fibreglass, silicone and even real hair particles. Mueck contrasts hyper realistic likeliness of human beings, whilst playing with scale. Mueck often constructs his pieces from a mould and makes them hollow so these huge and sometimes small projects are easy accessible and transferable. The detailed sculptures are captivating when viewed up close, as they may be many times larger or smaller than expected. The audience’s reaction and response to Muecks work is unbelievable because these life-like sculptures look so real, like they could just come alive at any moment. Muecks sculptures show an expression, creating different characters who are frozen in time, portraying different meanings, emotions and reactions. This sense of life within the sculptures gives the audience the idea that they could be more than just objects.
Couple under an umbrella (2013) is a simple name for a not so simple project, being 300x400x500cm this sculpture is of large scale and took one year to put together. Dressed in a plain, navy one-piece swimsuit, a short haired elderly woman is sitting beneath a colourful umbrella, affectionately contemplating her male companion whose head rest peacefully on her thigh. Frozen in time and shaded from the sun, the anonymous pair could easily be enjoying a relaxing day on the beach but instead, their pale, motionless bodies rest upon the concrete floor in an art museum in Paris, France. This realistic sculpture can suggest a variety of different emotions, situations and stories, giving the audience