† Frank Fleming
(American, 1940-2018)
"Sugar Baby Melon"
gilt-painted bisque
h. 8", w. 10-1/2", d. 8"
He has animals he likes and others he won’t do. I asked him once if he ever sculpted a dinosaur. He said he’s never seen a dinosaur, so why would he want to sculpt one?
Calvin Ross
Garden & Gun

As a young man growing up in rural Alabama, Fleming had a speech impediment significant enough that he preferred to spend time by himself, observing the natural world and surrounding himself with a bevy of animals – domestic and wild. He attended Florence State College (now the University of North Alabama) and the MFA program at the University of Alabama, where he discovered his love of the figural did not endear him to his professors; in retaliation, his thesis project was a clump of clay rocks which was, to his amusement, enthusiastically received.

Upon graduation, Fleming began to create clay sculptures of slightly anthropomorphized animals inspired by Rene Magritte, the California Funk artists he encountered and befriended on his travels, and the local Alabama vegetation. He soon began to experiment with bronze; the sturdy material allowed for large-scale pieces, furniture, and outdoor sculptures. Interestingly, Fleming never made preliminary sketches, instead directly modeling from his imagination.

Reference: Vanessa Gregory, “The Fantastical World of Frank Fleming”, Garden & Gun, February/March 2014.

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