nikhil.io

Charles Simonds

American, born 1945

BRICK BLOSSOM, 1981

Clay, sand, and sticks

Des Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Purchased with funds from the Gardner and Florence Call Cowles Foundation, 1982.1

Brick Blossom looks at first like an archeological or anthropological illustration. Although no humans are visible, the central structure looks abandoned during construction, or as if it has been rediscovered and excavated. Simonds has made many structures like this, imagining tiny, fictional builders whose culture is defined by the environments they create for themselves. This work belongs to the "people of the circle" or the "people of the spiral", two types of little builders the artist has invented. Simonds employs a laborious and delicate process in creating works like Brick Blossom. He sculpts and places each brick by hand, using tweezers and a mortar made from glue and water. The warm color and texture of clay are important to the artist's concept of these scenes, tying landscape and structure together and adding an organic element to the work. Finally, Simonds sprinkles sand over the clay to produce a worn texture and the illusion of age.

I love miniatures. So I loved this so much and spent a lot of time with it. Here’s a fascinating interview with the artist.