Future Baby Boy 2014

Joseph Pace made this sculpture, Future Baby Boy, out of mixed media. Isn't it wild? It’s just bursting with texture and light and must have taken real commitment to construct! It's like the artist was thinking, what if a baby was made of all the stuff we value? The beads, pearls, and trinkets all crowd together and totally transform the idea of a baby. It's almost like a map of desires, or a portrait of all the things we project onto new life. Take a look at the cross on the baby's leg. Covered in pearls, it seems to be saying something about faith, maybe about the future, or about the expectations we have for our children. It reminds me a little bit of work by Niki de Saint Phalle, where she also uses found objects and assemblage to create these larger-than-life figures. Art is always echoing, and responding to other art, so it’s impossible to consider Joseph Pace’s work in isolation.