Bronze Shoe SculptureBronze “Shoe Animals” Some of my recent work as a sculptor has been focused in a series of life-sized animals and pieces of furniture fabricated and all cast in bronze shoes, boots, ties, extension cords, gloves, and the like. The process has been long and tedious but the end results have been a spectacular breakthrough for me as an artist. I wanted these works to be formally rigorous. I wanted to use the animal that wasn’t there, the void, as the sculptural form. It’s an armature really, over which I have improvised a three dimensional drawing in a structure very much akin to jazz. The pieces themselves have an extraordinary sense of memory, melancholy, and loss. And as much as they appear to be sculptures of animals, I see them as ruminations on the human condition and the dilemmas we face as adults. Ken Little 1999 |  "Dawn" 1999; Bronze; 40"H x 96"W x 62"D; collection of the McNay Museum, San Antonio, Texas |  One Man Show, Finesilver Gallery, San Antonio, Texas, 1999 |  "Vent" 1999; Bronze; 69"H x 36"W x 20"D |  "Roof/Spy" 1999; Bronze; 106"H x 48"W x 52"D; private collection, Chicago, Illinois |  "Roof" (Rabbit on a TV)1999; Bronze; 43"H x 29"W x 20"D; private collection, Chicago, Illinois |  "Spy" (coyote) 1999; Bronze; 25"H x 22"W x 23"D; private collection, Chicago, Illinois |  "Jackrabbit" 1999; Bronze with Steel table; 58"H x 24"W x 18"D; private collection, San Antonio, Texas |  "Coast" 1999; Bronze with steel table; 65"H x 48"W x 18"D; Private Collection; My sculpture "Coast" is part of a larger series of works that I have been developing for many years. I guess I started making animals out of real shoes about 1979. I began casting them in bronze about 1990. At first glance what one might perceive is what looks like a coyote on a chest high table. Upon closer examination you will see that the coyote is what is not there. The form of the coyote is a void defined by a network of elegantly placed electrical cords, shoes, ties, belts, gloves and other articles of human clothing. When I was doing these pieces I was concentrating on them as exquisite drawings frozen in a three dimensional space. From one angle it may look like an abstraction and from another it would obviously appear be a coyote. I wanted them to appear and disappear in this formal three-dimensional gesture drawing. I also thought of them very musically, like a fine a fine piano jazz solo by Thelonius Monk. They would have exquisite patterns, twists, turns, and an occasional dissonant surprise. I put the coyote on the table to emphasize the abstract and musical qualities of this three-dimensional drawing over its potential "nature" or "wildlife" readings. Ken Little 1999 |  "Coast" (detail) 1999; Bronze with steel table; 65"H x 48"W x 18"D; private collection |  "Tax" 1999; Bronze; 25"H x 96"W x 112"D; The rabbits and the cougar were shown this way during the Finesilver Exhibition but sold seperately. All are in private collections. |  "Jackrabbit" 1999; Bronze; 18"H x 17"W x 12"D; Private Collection |  "Jackrabbit" 1999; Bronze; 18"H x 17"W x 12"D; Private Collection |  "Jackrabbit" 1999; Bronze; 24"H x 17"W x 12"D; Private Collection |  "Jackrabbit" 1999; Bronze; 24"H x 17"W x 12"D; Private Collection |  "Jackrabbit" 1999; Bronze; 24"H x 17"W x 12"D; Private Collection |  "Mount" 1999; Bronze; 55"H x 16"W x 16"D; Private Collection |  "Javelina" 1999; Bronze; 59"H x 40"W x 20"D; Private Collection |  "Javelina" (detail) 1999; Bronze; 59"H x 40"W x 20"D; Private Collection |  "Boss" 1992; Bronze; 36"H x 96"W x 34"D; Collection of the Linda Pace Foundation, San Antonio, Texas |