“Empire Peaks”
The generational fixation of his childhood - aka a commercial world known as Star Wars - was the perfect foil for Mike to separate good & evil. Mike had no idea that a dark prophecy - conceiving of “Darth Trump” in 2012 - would become a reality not 4 years later. Who else should get satirical treatment? Who should get an homage? Without black & white answers, Mike sculpted these 12 - 36 inch tall statues from wood & clay in 2012 & 2013. He carved smaller pieces in polymer clay, 18-inch pieces with a mix of wood & clay, and the larger 36-inch tall pieces from wood. Finished color was achieved with hand-painted enamel and the intrinsic hue of hand-mixed polymer clay. Each piece is posable with 5 moving body parts, articulated with internal steel armatures and wooden dowels. Works available to purchase are located here.
"No House Divided a Mystical Energy"
36"
Hand-carved wood
SEE MIKE MAKE ABESOLO
"Wars Make Not Eye Blind"
36"
Hand-carved wood
SEE MIKE MAKE YOGANDHI
"Dream a Free Us or Die"
36"
Hand-carved wood
SEE MIKE MAKE MLKINGWALKER
"Silence is No Good Dead Argument"
18"
Hand-carved wood, clay
SEE MIKE MAKE CHEFETT
"We Can Pay a Successful Yes Price"
18"
Hand-carved wood, clay
SEE MIKE MAKE LANDOBAMA
"Think 6 Million Forms of Different"
18"
Hand-carved wood, clay
SEE MIKE MAKE STEVE3-JOBS-PO
"The Chances of MC Squared Survival"
18"
Hand-carved wood, clay
"A Mirror Entrance in The Secret"
12"
Polymer clay
"I Don't Like Origin of This Species"
12"
Polymer clay
"How Liberty Dies Wounds Into Wisdom"
12"
Polymer clay
"Let Russia Hate Flow From Alaska"
12"
Polymer clay
"To Bind the Galaxy Prison First"
12"
Polymer clay
"To Be My Only Hope Forgotten"
12"
Polymer clay
"You Don't Rebel Walk Scum Away"
12"
Polymer clay
"Desparate to Taste Our Everyone Hour"
12"
Polymer clay
"To Destroy Life is Planet Luck"
12"
Polymer clay
"We Will Rip Out Revenge Hearts"
12"
Polymer clay
"Dear Mind Powers Work Our Leader"
18"
Polymer clay
David Sirota argues in 'Back to Our Future' for a cyclical 30-year regurgitation of politics and culture. Mike also thinks it's an inescapable human nature causing regimes to repeat themselves. Capitalism fills desire and demand. Development expands. Culture thrives. From religious redemption to material objects, mass coveting is the driving force. TV dinners become home-cooked meals. We learn to covet cheap plastic objects. We feed on our parents' guilt and teach them consumerism. Buying toys becomes a medium of love. An empire is born.
Some empires are built on a protest, critique and rebellion. Many are built by a greed and ambition. Power corrupts ambition. Rebellion becomes conformity. One empire falls. Another rises to repeat the mistakes of its predecessor. Ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian memes return to warn our current times. Antiquity rises to replace modernity. Empire Peaks are monuments to this history we share, over and over again.