Obama-inspired art featured on CNN
Murphy definitely does not use an ordinary technique when creating his masterpieces. One amazing aspect of his work is the media that he employs. His media are very diverse, ranging from nails and high tension wire to pastels and sidewalk chalk on paper. No matter what medium he chooses, his finished product is always extremely unique.
One of Murphy’s more recent works, shown on CNN, is a depiction of Barack Obama made from 1,000 feet of steel high tension wire. The wires are molded into a perfect arrangement to show a very distinct image of Obama’s face.
Another one of his incredible pieces featured on CNN, was a portrait of Obama made by the shadows cast by 6,400 2″ nails. The nails are positioned to resemble Obama, and when light is shown on the nails at the correct angle it creates an unmistakable portrait of the future president.
Murphy said his remarkable work is inspired by many things in life.
“My inspirations are always different,” he said. “There are so many different inspiring things in life and I really just try to react to them.”
He chose to focus on Obama because of the dynamic qualities of his message and the change that will come from his election.
“Obama’s message paralleled my own personal beliefs, and I really support his cause.” Murphy said. “I think I can make really clever and interesting things which can create a positive depiction of this campaign.”
Murphy desires for people to gather their own understanding of his artwork.
“I usually like to leave my art vague and open ended so that people can make their own interpretations,” he said. “That way they can bring their own experience and mingle it with their own interpretation.”
Murphy’s creative choice of media is one of the things that makes his art so astounding.
“I get sort of bored working with the same stuff. Sometimes I just walk through a hardware store and something will catch my eye,” he said. “Sometimes it’s even by accident.”
It is no accident that Murphy’s work was highlighted nationally on CNN. He is very encouraged by the press spotlighting his recent work on Obama.
“Having my work shown nationally is definitely good,” Murphy said. “A couple people have come up to me and said, ‘You’re famous,’ but just because my work was on CNN doesn’t mean I’m famous, it’s just news coverage, which is good. It’s definitely a positive thing to have coverage. I have had a lot of really nice remarks since the CNN report which is great,” he said. ” I think many of the people looking at my work support the ideas that Obama’s campaign stands for. They know it represents things like kindness, love, compassion, and progressive thought.”
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Dec 5 2008. Filed under Features.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
