This piece is an homage to Paul Sebben, one of my professors during my Foundations year and then my Sophomore Sculpture Studio professor at KCAI. Paul had unfortunately died by suicide in Fall of 2001, at the beginning of my Junior year at KCAI, and when provided an opportunity to do metal casting in early 2002 I chose to make this with him in mind. The resin-bonded sand mold I created was cast from a convex mirrored hubcap for the top and sand-blasted plywood and wood construction below. The overall form was something like a mushroom cap, but very mechanical in nature with the crisp edge seeming to hover just above the floor in a subtly confounding way. The underside was designed to be like the gills of a mushroom, and intentionally rusting. The top was imperfect but hand-worked and polished to a mirrored finish. I ironically placed the sculpture near this giant wall mirror in Vanderslice Hall, the former mansion that served as the main administration building for KCAI.

The piece is also something of a self-portrait. A failed reflection of those you look up to that amplifies and distorts the viewer, making them seem larger than they are. The mirrored object in front of the mirror is a question about identity and how we might mirror each other in a social setting and how power dynamics are at play with mentorship and the reflecting of the values of the institution within which one exists. There’s more to say, but I won’t.

— Andy T