Craig Hall Gallery: April 15 - 19, 2024

title painted on wall with horror font and statement below

Rancor
Madison Grijalva

1. Rancor (noun): bitter, rankling resentment or ill will; hatred; malice.

     The pieces within this gallery were created to physically represent rancor in the context of the everyday life of us as humans. In order to best represent this, I decided to create a conglomeration of pieces with a subject theme of humanoid monsters. This choice in subject matter is intended to represent the times in which we experience rancor that may turn us into these monstrous versions of ourselves.
     However, this art is not only influenced by this main theme of rancor, but also my own life experiences and interests in the dark and macabre. These interests can be seen in the many morbid details within each piece such as ornamental bones and soulless eyes peaking at you from the dark atmosphere that surrounds each character.
     Various other materials are used as this gallery is comprised of mixed media works. I use porcelain, colored slip, and clear glazes to create the ceramic pieces. The prints are made by carving linoleum and rubber to create a stamp which is then covered in ink and pushed against the paper on which the image stays. Cardboard, thread, modgepodge, paint, beads, bones, printing ink, paper, and more were utilized to create the base and hangings of the mobile like of piece which is held by a wooden mannequin arm that I modified by adding tattoo like drawings with a black posca marker.
     Finally, my last piece in question is made from an antique dolls body, miscellaneous teeth from unknown sources, tinfoil, clay, bones, beads, and acrylic paint. I created the head of the beast by placing tinfoil through the joke of the neck and sculpted the air-dry clay to the desired shape. I then added the teeth by lightly pressing them into the soft clay and encapsulated the beads with slivers of clay to form the eyelids. To finish the main body, I painted the head using a black acrylic base and dry-brushed the white highlights to give the illusion of fur.
     Overall, this gallery is a passion project that allows me to express my own interests in a way I know best.

ceramic torso lying prone with flowers in holes in shoulder and abdomen, like a vase

print of masked figure squatting, winged bull head

ceramic figure, just back and head, hunched over, with holes in back and head for plants

print of nude figure, raising one leg (bent), furry animal head with smiley-face mask

painting of dark doorway, all in black, white, and gray

wall sculpture, arm with one finger used as hook to hang a mobile