A sculpture by French artist Oliver de Sagazan.
French artist Olivier de Sagazan has been using his own body to create disfigured clay sculptures for over two decades. His work has been displayed all over Europe as well as China and India.
Born in Africa, de Sagazan would travel back to his place of birth in his early 20s where he lived in Cameroon for two years after receiving his Master’s Degree in Biology. Once he returned to France, he found himself deeply inspired by tribal art and the relationship between the earth and the influence that elements play in shaping our planet. According to a 2015 interview, de Sagazan then locked himself away to work on a comic strip called Ipsul ou la rupture du cercle (“While breaking the circle”) and began his journey as a painter and sculptor.
Here’s more from de Sagazan on what drives him to create his tormented sculptures:
“Men live in a mask of collective hallucination. In oblivion: they arrive one day in the world, totally lost, and leave in a stupor on another day. On the rest, they go on focusing on daily tasks, perhaps forgetting the poetry of this strange world. Art can be a knife to open this mask and reveal the strangeness of being alive. “
Images from de Sagazan’s hellish sculptures below. Some are NSFW.
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
‘Living sculptures’ of world leaders, artists, and other wackos
A jarringly realistic life-sized sculpture of actor Robert Shaw as ‘Quint’ from ‘Jaws’
Artist creates hyperrealistic sculptures of LA gang members as skin-rugs
Disturbingly beautiful sculptures created with discarded doll parts
Fantastically realistic sculptures of Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Batgirl, Eddie Munster and more