A Young Artist
“People often ask me what certain sculptures mean but I don’t want to talk about meaning. I want people to decide what they think it means instead of me telling them.” Callum Donovan-Grujicich
Callum Donovan-Grujicich was just 12 years old when Canada’s CBC featured him in the video above, giving us a peek into this young person’s creative process.
When he was ten, he began making exquisitely constructed puppet-sized “figurative sculptures” using clay, wire, paint, fabric, stuffing, and found metal objects. He even sews their clothes and stuffs them.
Callum says that he wants to go to art college, be a sculptor, and have a “sanctuary for neglected animals.” But, into his 10th year of making things, it’s clear that Callum is already an artist and a sculptor who enjoys making fantastical objects.
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Sometimes he gets an idea and tries to recreate it. Other times, he finds a piece of metal that serves as inspiration for a sculpture and goes from there. Callum always keeps a look out for bits and pieces of metal that might be useful and inspirational for making his sculptures.
A lot of his sculptures look like they were crafted for a movie or opera set. They have theatrical personalities, and an air of compelling mystery surrounds them.
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“I started making things when I was about two years old. I made sculptures out of fabric – things like wool. I started experimenting with making my own clay out of toilet paper, drywall compound, mineral oil, and glue….I find it more interesting to put a bunch of different materials together. So I had the idea to make these sculptures out of lots of materials. I had to figure out how to make them, because I had never seen anything like this before."
It’s always exciting to see a young artist with a focused vision for making things, for experimenting with processes, and to see such fully realized objects from someone so young. We look forward to seeing Callum's creations in the years to come.
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You can check out Callum’s website and his Instagram account. Screen grabs via CBC's video and Callum's Instagram account.
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