Desolation by Jamie Salmon

Jamie Salmon is a British born, self taught contemporary sculptor, living and working in Vancouver, Canada. He started his career working as a commercial artist and sculptor for the movie effects industry. He specializes in hyper-realist sculpture, both figurative and portrait, utilizing such materials as silicone rubber, resin, hair and fabric. This short video shows Jamie and his partner, Jackie K. Seo creating the larger than life “Sumo.”

Jamie says of his working process; "The most important part of the artistic process for me is the initial idea behind the work. If it isn’t as strong as possible, then the lengthy process of sculpting, molding, painting etc, no matter how well done, will be for nothing and the work will fall flat.

I want to make something that tells a story or moves people in some sort of way, not something that just looks very real. Of course, I need my work to have a certain degree of reality about them, but its more of a heightened reality. This is also why I like to play with scale in a lot of my work as well. I think it is something that catches people off guard and forces them to confront their ideas about reality, and to also think about the idea behind the work more deeply; maybe more so than they would do if the piece were just life size.

I think hyper-realist art too often tries to reach what is ultimately an unattainable level of perfection. That should not be the goal with it anyway. At the end of the day, I hope that my work contains meaning and conveys a real sense of emotion as well. And if they also take people by surprise and affect them on perhaps an unexpected level, I really feel I’ve succeeded".