The bricolage sculptures of Stephen Ives are the focus of an upcoming retrospective at beinArt Gallery in Australia. His pieces, surreal blends of discarded objects, model kits, toys, and other materials, are often playfully militaristic. Even at their most humorous, each of these creations feels as though it has its own purpose.
“Stephen Ives is a bricoleur: he creates his work from a meta pile of toys, junk, found objects, model kits and malleable extras such as polymer clays and aluminium,” the gallery says. “He organizes his ideas similarly, a collision of thoughts, feelings, current and past ideas, history and popular culture. Concepts are edited and refined and materials are collected, cut, morphed, distorted and eventually brought together in an homogenous whole that is both a thought form and a candy apple treat.”
The show kicks off Feb. 17 and runs through March 4. See more of his works below.
