Crazy Baby Art

A little while back, I saw someone asking about the “baby exploding & baby getting impaled with rebar sculptures” by 40th and Interlake Ave N on the Wallingford / Fremont Facebook group.

The whole thing sounded a bit more like the premise of a series of jokes we used to tell in elementary school, but nevertheless piqued my curiosity. With a bit of sleuthing*, I discovered it was produced by the wife and husband team of Missy Douglas and Kim Rask, who are jointly the uckiood studio.

Kim and Melissa met in Brussels in 2009 and have been working together since 2011, first in Brussels, New York City, and now Wallingford. Kim is a native Seattleite who’s lived in their Wallingford home since the 90’s (aside from his stint in Brussels).

“Many people believe that they are about abortion,” Missy wrote about the sculptures. “This couldn’t be farther from the truth. They really are just meditations on the self and what it means to be human. We use a universal symbol – the baby – to explore the tension between the physical body and our internal, psychological landscape, which can be really traumatic at times.

“[The image above] shows ‘Suspension: State of Being’ (2013) and Labor:Release III (2013) in situ at home on Interlake. Both are made from polyurethane, steel, enamel, plaster of paris, resin, fiberglass, gilding liquid. You can also see a large painting ‘Sectioned’ (2014-15) in the background. That’s oil on canvas, and is a visual account of my time in a psychiatric facility in New York.”

“[This next one] shows part of Labor:Release I (2012-13) in situ in the garden of the house on Interlake. She’s affectionately known as Poly by virtue of her materials – polyurethane, steel, herculite no.2 and enamel. She was originally part of a larger form created for shows in Brussels (2013) and here in Seattle (2014). A cast of her was taken and a new multi-piece installation was shown at Burning Man (2012, image below) and then in New York City (2012).”

This next image (below) “shows something different,” Missy continued. “These four canvasses are part of the 2:365 project we did in 2013-14. It was a year long project whereby I explored my bipolar disorder by painting a canvas a day for the entirely of the year. The 365 canvasses were shown in Seattle and Brussels, and there was a book published alongside of the same name, 2:365. This was produced in collaboration with the International Bipolar Foundation. We were so lucky as we featured all over the place – on the BBC etc – on the back of this project.”

“So, as you can see, we produce work which is very autobiographical and as such, quite provocative. We’ve really engaged people in the past: some people hate what we do, but many have really valued the fact that we tackle uncomfortable, taboo subjects. After a year off, we’re starting to do very different stuff now in the studio – smaller pieces in both sculpture and painting – but still looking at the same ideas of identity, isolation, disintegration and adding a bit of memory too.”

If you’re interested in building your own exploding baby (or other fine art) skills, Melissa is an ex-art history professor who offers private tutoring to adults and children over 12, in drawing, painting, sculpture and art history. “Classes can be taken either here in the studio’s teaching rooms or at home,” she said. “Any ability level is welcome.” More details on that on her website, www.missydouglas.com.

* In this case, “sleuthing” involved reading a comment Susan Lowney had written with answer. She, in turn, read the web address on the sign that appeared next to the art. Take notes, Scotland Yard!