'& When I'm a Man (I'll Think As a Man)', Wayne Chisnall

'& When I'm a Man (I'll Think As a Man)', Wayne Chisnall, originally uploaded by Wayne Chisnall.

I've posted an image of this piece because this year is the tenth anniversary of the year that I properly became a sculptor and this sculpture was the starting point. Although, technically speaking I started making the molds for it in the latter part of 1997.

A couple of years after I first exhibitied this piece I started getting emails and phone calls from friends asking if I was exhibiting it in different galleries all over the place. It turned out that a few other artists had made similar sculptures after I had made mine. I suppose there was a bit of a zeitgeist thing going on. I'd be interested to know if anyone had made something similar before 1998.

Ironically, 'And When I'm A Man' is probably the largest sculpture that I have made to date. Most of my current sculptural work tends to be made up of small detailed components that grow outwards or upwards.

As well as being made from 12 separate body casts of myself (a self portrait, I suppose) 'And When I'm A Man' is based on the type of model kit that I used to buy as a child. When creating the piece I was interested in childhood perceptions of adulthood and the role that toys played in this, as I noticed that many figurative toys were that of adult characters.

Date: 1998
Dimensions: 230 x 170 x 18 cm
Materials: fibreglass, resin & plastic.