Now, you may be wondering, what on earth is sculpture with a twist and wit?
Well, it is exactly this: not too bloody serious, not pretentious, but rather:
mischievous, unexpected, often funny and personal.
And who is this Johan Rapp?
Well, he does have some odd and varied posts in his CV as an artist.
A writer of several fact books and a former Sweden correspondent of The Associated Press international news agency, he founded and chairs an association with a smile: The Global Association for Distracted People (distractedpeople.com, tankspridd.se), which promotes the acceptance of ordinary forgetfulness.
Currently chairman of the KB75 Ceramic Sculpture Studio in Stockholm, Sweden, he started with ceramic sculpture already as a high school student by sneaking in after ordinary classes in the Art Department of the International School of Geneva. While at university, he taught ceramics to hobby students.
More recently, he has attended numerous courses, including portrait sculpture with renowned sculpture artist Martine Vaugel in France, sculptor Korean Song Seo at Love Art Park in Thailand and studied molding techniques with David Neat in London.
>>>Check out his instagram to see his sources of inspiration and where he is headed: johanrappdesign
Production:
All art on this site is designed by Johan Rapp and handmade. Johan does the raku firing outside his 18th century log house, located between two lakes in an historical Viking area, 120 kilometers southwest of Stockholm, Sweden.
Raku, which started in Japan, excludes oxygen in the firing process and can create fascinating color combinations, including surfaces of shining copper. It is a partially unpredictable method and many objects are discarded. The ones that are approved have a truly unique luster and character.
Most small head are made in plaster molds that give 70-80 percent of the final look, making each head unique when fine-tuned and modified by hand. Raku-fired work is made with white clay and raku glaze. No head or other object looks the same. Terracotta heads are made in red clay and may resemble each other, but there is always a difference, sometimes accentuated by a raku-fired frame.
Sculpture doesn’t have to be dead serious
Contact Johan at johan.rapp(AT)edwork.se