AP Artist Spotlight: Michael Bagley

When I began Sculpture as a sophomore, I was years removed from my last visual arts class and not quite sure what to expect. I joined Sculpture without even the notion of taking the class through my senior year, but after a single semester, I knew it was something I wanted to pursue. I began to double up on sculpture classes so I would have enough credits to enroll in AP Sculpture my Senior year.

ESD

Sculpture quickly became an outlet for me by providing a new way to deal with the daily stresses of high school and allowing me to work with my hands compared to sitting at a desk all day.
The journey of building my portfolio has been a ride with random offshoot projects like my Baby Yoda or my Copper Knot, but slowly I have narrowed my focus to the idea of humanity. I wanted to explore not only the human form but also the intricacies of human interaction through a range of different mediums like plaster, wood, and metal. I wanted to try and capture some of the nuances of the world around us, and while they aren’t perfect, I am proud of the work I have made. I have loved the process of trying to focus on a specific idea, and while it hasn’t always been easy, I have enjoyed it greatly.

I don’t know where my sculpture journey will take me next, but I know it is something I definitely want to continue as I go off to college. I want to thank the friends I have made and my family for supporting me throughout this process. Sculpture at ESD has been a gift, and I am so grateful for my time in Mr. Larsen’s class, as it has been nothing short of amazing.

Michael’s work uses the fractured body as the symbolic site on which a moral and philosophical battle rages; a battle between our ancient biological brains, and the novel, disembodied extensions of memory and will we carry in our pockets.

Dane Larsen, AP Sculpture TeacherGeorge Fiala, AP Photography Teacher

The Thoughtless

The Thoughtless was my big senior year piece. I had a hard time finding inspiration for this piece, but after visiting the Nasher with my mom and looking back to some of my smaller wire armatures, I decided I wanted to scale up with a Giacometti-inspired plaster/wire figure. A lot of my pieces deal with the idea of humanity and I wanted this one to provide commentary on the lack of thought and mindfulness that cripples our world at times.

Equus

My sophomore year we were assigned to carve an animal from chalk and I chose to make a horse. Equus was one of my first projects and I just think it’s fun piece that reminds me of past years at ESD.

Trial #1

I twisted a wire into an interesting shape and then wrapped the wire with twine. Once the wire was covered, I covered it in plaster. The highest part is most similar to the ribs, which used plaster that was farther along in the drying process to achieve a highly texture look, while the middle and lower part used fresh plaster that was still flowing to have an overall smoother look.

Hey Siri

This is a commentary on the growth of artificial intelligence as it begins to take away the responsibilities of humans. This was my first piece working with hands and was actually born out of a separate project entirely where instead of the cast hand I had built plaster up around a wire armature.

The Child

During peak Mandalorian hype my junior year and right before lockdown, I began The Child as a fun piece for my soft sculpture requirement. He is made of felt, walnut eyes, and a repurposed pair of cashmere sweatpants. Mr. Larsen taught me how to hand sew and I actually finished the piece over quarantine when my mom taught me how to use a sewing machine. It became a great stress reliever during the chaos that was the first couple months of COVID-19 and is definitely my cutest piece.

Don't Get It Twisted

This is a copper knot that I built freestyle. Originally assigned during Intermediate Sculpture, copper pipes were connected by soldering and then I used linseed oil that I burnt onto the copper to achieve the dark orange, reds, and blacks found on the piece.

Plaster Form

Another sophomore year piece, I used cardboard to create a 3D shape that I then filled with plaster and eventually sanded.

Divided

This was published in the Itinerary magazine and is probably my favorite piece that I have made. When assigned the Cornell Shadow Box project I immediately knew I wanted to create a map and, as the title suggests,

Chimera

This is my other published piece and was made with the laser cutter to create four shapes that were then fitted together.

A Covid-World

This is made of an assemblage of items from around my house and is designed to look somewhat like a mobile. I used a moss ball as the base and punched pins and nails into the ball to show the pores and arms of a COVID cell.

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