Existing comment:
Obama as an Easter Island Figure
2009, this casting 2019
Bronze
Barack Obama (1961-) first appears as an Easter Island head in a 2006 cartoon published early in the campaign for the Democratic nomination, when Obama emerged as a seemingly inscrutable object of adulation for an uncritical American public. Oliphant distinctly recalls America's mood at that moment: "So hungry were we for change. So appalled, scared, and disgusted were we at the thought of four more Republican years. So apprehensive were we of the dreaded Hillary..."
Sometime during Obama's first year as president, Oliphant translated the bold contours and deep shadows of the 2006 cartoon into a wax model for a bronze portrait bust. Oliphant takes advantage of the medium to exaggerate particular features of Obama's face, particular the ears. The result is less an Easter Island head and closer to the real men with compassionate and care worn features, rather than an impassive and all-knowing god. |