British artist James Hopkins makes us, simultaneously, smile and scratch our heads with his seemingly ordinary cartoon sculptures. His acrylic plastic characters, called Perspective Sculptures, are all part of a crazy illusion that unveils itself when the works are viewed from a different perspective.
It’s all part of Hopkins’ plan or the way his art works. “The majority of my practice is concerned with the role of judgment in connection to the process of vision,” he tells us. “I am interested in optically adapting objects and imagery in order to create sculptural interventions, which momentarily knock the viewer’s perception off-kilter. I often slyly transform familiar objects and imagery, giving them the power of self-reflective commentary, converting them to different items and nudging them towards an ‘impossible’ state that produces a sense of amazement in those who behold them.”
He continues, “My work is often concerned with as to whether we depend on fixed viewpoints to appreciate the rendering of space in perspective art. And raises the subsequent questions as to if any observation made from other areas than the fixed viewpoint may be considered incomplete.”
Role Reversal
Kyle, Stan, Cartman, and Kenny
Tom and Jerry
Cat and Mouse
Jazz Hands
See all of Hopkins’ interesting sculptures over on his website. If you liked this, I guarantee you’ll also enjoy Balanced Works.