Collection Record
Images
Metadata
Artist |
Toland, Tip (American, b. 1950) |
Title |
Weeping Giant |
Date |
2016 |
Medium |
Stoneware/Chalk Pastel/Paint/Fixative/Wax/Nail Polish |
Material |
Ceramic |
Technique |
Stoneware, paint and chalk pastel |
Height (in) |
16.500 |
Width (in) |
22.000 |
Depth (in) |
16.500 |
Credit line |
Museum purchase with funds from the Douglass Freed Endowment for Acquisitions |
Notes |
Tip Toland is well regarded for her hyper-real figural sculptures, primarily of human subjects. She is interested in depicting the vulnerability of the human condition. As a result, her focus is often on the ungainly bodies of the very young and the old; as she puts it, "that's where we find our humanity." She continues, "My work is an attempt to give voice to inner psychological and/or spiritual states of being." Toland has developed a variety of techniques that enable her to give her sculptures a life-like appearance, including the use of actual hair, and she carefully replicates the appearance of real flesh, defined wrinkles, skin tone, even tooth enamel. In "Weeping Giant," many of these traits are on view. But beyond the physical accuracy of what is depicted, there is the work's aura, its tenderness, and potential for meaning. Although Toland often tackles social issues in her work, among them themes related to old age, to refugees, even to albinism, her oeuvre also touches on the purely poignant and humorous. Such is the case here. "Weeping Giant" is a head-and-shoulders-format bust of an androgynous figure, slightly larger than life, caught in the middle of a good cry. The giant appears to be middle aged, with a face that is deeply lined, hair that is reduced to stubble, brow furrowed, nose bulbous, and ears large. The giant's mouth opens in a grimace that reveals text-book-bad teeth, startling in their verisimilitude. Tears glisten on the giant's cheeks. With one eye crumpled in grief, the other stares at us, gimlet-like and appraising. It's as if they ask "are you buying this?" Overall, the mood is tragi-comic, and the giant might be read as a character out of a fairy tale, something like Jack and the Beanstalk. Tip Toland is a ceramist and educator, born in 1950 in Pottstown, PA. She has a BFA in ceramics from University of Colorado, and an MFA, also in ceramics, from Montana State University. She has exhibited her work nationally at venues that include the Renwick Gallery, Kohler Arts Center, and Bellevue Arts Museum. Her sculpture is in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Archie Bray Foundation, and Museum of Arts and Design. She is a full-time studio artist and a part-time instructor in the Seattle area. |
Object ID |
2016.02 |
Object Type |
Ceramic |