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Scott Radke is a Cleveland-based artist.
Scott Radke, Deer #4, 2007. mixed media, 10 inches. courtesy of the artist.I have experimented with various media throughout my life and currently am focusing on the creation of sculptural hybrid creatures with an extraordinarily innocent, yet dark twist. My work first appeared in various underground magazines and publications such as Bizarre, DPI Magazine, Hi Fructose, and Skratch. In 1999, the popularity of my marionettes allowed me to leave my mind-numbing job at a bed-frame factory to pursue my creative passion on a full-time basis.
I create characters that are sometimes haunting, sometimes humorous. In all of them, I try to juxtapose innocence and adulthood. Being innocent is not always being naïve. My characters are weathered, like worn-out old toys. I try to present contrasting emotions in them. I grew up collecting and studying animals. They were a huge part of my life for a very long time. I have been trying to incorporate that into my recent work, which is why I started doing costumed animal characters. Nature provides me with an unlimited source of inspiration.
When I work, I want to get that feeling I had as kid when I would find an interesting bug or frog. I loved that feeling of investigating it before anyone told me what it was, what it did, or if I was supposed to be afraid of it or not. I don’t try to analyze what my work means. I like the viewer to make his or her own conclusions. I usually start with a set of faces and let the faces dictate where the work will go. I have to work as much as I can. I believe that if I just show up in my studio, and get my hands moving, things will come together eventually. It is a somewhat blind way of working, but just letting it all flow out—good or bad—and discarding what I don’t want to use along the way is an approach that works for me.
My marionettes have been featured in films including Voices In My Head, a BBC documentary directed by David Malone; Desolation Sound, starring Jennifer Beals; God in the Machine, starring Thomas Jay Ryan; and Birthday Massacre’s music video, Blue. My work has also been shown in galleries internationally including: BLK/MRKT Gallery (CA), M Modern Gallery (CA), Strychnin Gallery (Germany), Jonathan Levine’s former Tin Man Alley (PA), and CB’s 313 (NYC). I currently live in Cleveland with my wife, choreographer Sarah Morrison, with whom I also collaborate on set designs, costumes, and masks.
