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Ed Coy - Sculptor
Miniaturisation is as old as man's creativity: from the pocketable tribal fetish which was meant to evoke for its owner the protection of the world of spirits, to the portraits of the rulers which throughout history have graced or disgraced our coinage.
In the case of successful portrait miniatures, such as Ed Coy's microsculptures, the intention is to capture and hold the essence of a subject free from extraneous context. The smallness of the sculpture invites us to look closer and to concentrate on the rendered-down essentials that the artist offers us.
In his early painting, 'Little Boy Blue', the artist's awareness of the lostness, the smallness of the despairing individual who is surrounded by darkness, yet is spotlit by his own consciousness of his plight, has engendered a truly haunting image. It is this vision which has perhaps led him to miniaturise his work and discover that the isolation of the miniature figure gives them a pervading sense of aloneness. In choosing sometimes to sculpt portraits of the famous he is also demonstrating how this functions as a metaphor for the isolating effects of fame.
Working against this, of course, is the wit invested in the sculptures. As in successful cartoons - he is drawn to Robert Crumb's work - Ed Coy's sculptures give us characteristic details which trigger recognition, but although some of these details are evident, others are not: there is a potent inner vitality to the figures which is only describable by looking.
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