Artist Statement

Consumerised and pervasive Buddha statues are flimsy adaptations of a sacred, religious icon. In fact, almost all religious symbols are archetypal appropriations of previous ones. Religious figures represent a fundamental desire for the immortal and the heroic, in response to human needs. Font takes inspiration from Duchamp’s Fountain, which has been noted for its resemblance to Buddha, a treasured ‘font of wisdom’. I was interested in playfully aligning not only the malleability of the wax medium and the ‘easy’ appropriation of Buddha statues, but also the nose and wisdom, which manifests linguistically in odd ways (‘sniff it out’, ‘smells funny’, the homophonic ‘knows’, and so on).

Artwork Process

I made two clay moulds – one of a small Buddha statue and the other of my nose. I then poured liquid beeswax into both moulds. Once solid, the wax sculptures were heated and the casts of both combined. The result was then photographed and edited in Photoshop.

About the Artist

Name: Emmanuel Skoufris
School: Yeronga State High School
Artwork: Font
Media: Digital photograph

I have found a lot of inspiration from philosophy, psychology and science books, which provide ideas that I can attempt to represent in an interesting visual form. Art, in my opinion, is a medium through which to represent important revelations and ‘invisible truth’, which would otherwise not reveal themselves. I am very much motivated and inspired by artists who communicate important ideas in aesthetically pleasing ways.