Shawn Tyler Art Dragon 'Stone' Sculpture Lingbi Gongshi Brutalist Cubist Modern
This sculpture, made out of 'cultured stone' (which is a fancy way of saying cementious concrete) is directly inspired by amazing rock formations I saw in china called Lingbi or gongshi. This is a larger sculpture standing about 20.5 inches tall by about 20 inches long and roughly 10 inches deep where the leg protrudes. I see a dragon when I look at this sculpture, kind of a brutalist, modern, almost cubist dragon, my son sees a bird, what do you see? It looks and feels like real stone. I love concrete or I should say cement, I used cement and added some different types of aggregate to get the rough, dragon-skin like surface. I ran a file around some of the edges to simulate a stone out of the quarry, so there is very light 'wear' in some areas. I took a photo of the 'worst' which you can only see if you get right up close. I cut the base out of hardwood and shaped it into a facsimile of the dragons head, see photos. If you don't like that I can make a more conventional base for it.
I traveled around a lot and while in China I was introduced to Lingbi, scholar's stones or scholar's rocks, in Japan Suiseki or viewing stones, aka Gongshi, in other words natural stones dug from various riverbeds and lakes (in China) or just found stones that have been polished and shaped by eons of time, flowing of water, etc. A man told me in China -Poor people collect gold, rich people collect stones!' In China, the most sought after and collected objects are stamps, coins and stones, or so I have been told. At any rate, various artists over the years have attempted to replicate what God has done in the carving of these amazing natural artifacts. I am simply another foolish artist in that line, attempting to create some semblance of a lingbi. The most contorted, twisted, tortured, fantastical lingbi are breathtaking and amazing, bearing resemblance to many things if you stare, look at it from different angles and let your imagination run wild.
I will gladly ship overseas, please contact me for shipping cost to your country