Recent Projects

From time to time I’ll post my most recent projects and share in-progress photos of projects I’m currently working on.

My sculpture called “The Soothsayer” received Best of Show at the Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition 2012. I am extremely overwhelmed.

This is the description I used at the exhibit:

The Soothsayer by Owen Simonson

“My inspiration for this sculpture comes from the Hocking Hills region in Southeastern Ohio. For those unfamiliar with Hocking hills — it is an awesome State Park that offers spectacular gorges, cliffs and waterfalls, amidst sprawling fern and moss covered forests. It’s a magical place, where the crisp oxygen-abundant air and tranquil surroundings have a way of cleaning out the cobwebs in your head.

With the Soothsayer, I tried to capture the spiritual quality of the landscape and the feeling of the mysterious, where — if you look into his soulful eyes — an ancient wisdom speaks the truth.”

This project (below) is a steampunk sculpture I created from recycled material. It is called “The Tinkerer”.

This piece earned two awards from the 2011 Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition: a Ohio Arts Council Award and the People’s Choice Award.

It is an automated sculpture: The motor whirs, the auger helicopter blade spins, the turtle leg pumps and the plasma ball lights up. The Tinkerer takes flight and invites the viewer to imagine his story. Where’s the turtle going? Where did he come from? Why does he tinker? And does he really dislike bunnies?