Mike K. Viner is an artist based in Israel specializing in caricature and portrait sculpture. His work has been commissioned both at home in Israel and abroad. Here’s a word from Mike: “So, a few words about Mike K. Wiener and his activities. I am a sculptor specializing in sculptural caricature, living in sunny Israel, which corresponds to my ironic attitude towards life. Most of my creations are up to 10 inches tall and weigh around 3kg. All colored parts of my sculptures are made from individual colors of clay. I do not use paints and painting in my works”

How long have you been sculpting your fantastic dolls and dioramas for?

Mike: Oh let me remember... I think in the style that you see now, I mean - portrait sculpture caricature I started doing about 10 years ago. And before that, I just occasionally sculpted various funny dudes

What inspires you?

Mike: I have this feeling that the very moment I came to this world it gave me a broad smile, and presumably I smiled back readily. Because ever since it has never stopped showing me, and I’ve never failed seeing, the most humorous and funny sides of each of life's numerous components, of every event, every phrase, every face. And naturally I’ve always tried hard to share this healthy outlook on life with all my much less optimistic surrounding, using all means available. In my first piece of clay I recognized at once an ideal and so welcome facility to transfer humor and the positive. Starting modeling as a kid just for fun and instinctively, gradually getting and developing skills, I got a natural interest in the world activity in this field, and discovered such maitres as Ray Harryhausen, David O’Keefe, Alex Mergold, so their influence added to my personal ironic conception of reality, intuition, know-how and true love of the good movies have resulted in what I’m happy to offer for your attention.

I love human faces. I love the way the facial features live their lives, changing accordingly and irrepressibly with one’s thoughts and feelings. The habitual subdivision to facial beauty and ugliness is a major myth based on static perception of reality, the very same face can turn in an instance from pretty to distasteful and back, I see it happen so easily and can instantly put under doubt the beauty of one and the freak of another – just give me a piece of clay and 5 minutes of spying through the keyhole. So my recipe of attractiveness - move your face as freely and intensively as you can, let it be vivacious and expressive, don’t give me a chance to catch you

Our life is hard, it is full of troubles and sorrows we just can’t avoid, so why add one more, why make it tougher? Why not to use an opportunity to make yourself and all around you smile heartily?

How has your style changed over time?

Mike: Well, I can’t say that my style has changed a lot over time, it’s possible I began to add more details to work out the features of the face more carefully, but the legs of my characters have always been simply huge and remain the same to this day

Which Line (Doll, Sculpt, Deco) and colors of Cosclay are you using and why?

Mike: Given my specificity of portraits and caricatures, of course, I mainly use the line of Doll and Sculpt for my work. As for CosСlay colors, I use absolutely the entire palette! As you can imagine, my flesh-colored characters use a lot of beige. but in the costumes of my characters I use all colors! I often mix them together to get the shade I want.

What are some of your most important tools for creating your sculptures? Is there something you can't live without in your studio?

Mike: The list of tools and materials I use:

- an Elvis Presley CD (as an indispensable source of inspiration);

- aluminum foil;

- metal wire;

- scissors;

- pliers;

- nippers;

- polymer clays CosClay all colors !

- polymer clay SuperSculpey ; Apoxie clay

- plastic carving board;

- set of tools for miniature modeling (including a number of hand-made ones);

- my eyes, my hands, and my protruding tongue

How has the inclusion of Cosclay into your artistic tool belt aided your creative process?

Mike: I must admit that your materials are truly Revolutionary. I want to say that I have long dreamed that polymer clay would not crack after baking, that its fine details would not break but bend! And at the same time it would be easy to sculpt . And your wonderful CosClay material has it all! he helps me a lot in my work! my Clay characters feel better after baking and they also travel better by mail at their customers' homes!

Any words of wisdom for getting started in sculpting?

Mike: Don't hesitate to start sculpting! Over time, you will feel the material and be able to create incredibly cool things! So relax and playfully, have fun, have fun, laugh at your failures and achievements - it doesn't matter. And the result, I hope, will absorb this lightness, humor and cheerfulness, like exquisite spices and flavors.

Where can I see more of your work?
www.VinerSculptures.com

https://www.facebook.com/MikeK.Viner

https://www.instagram.com/mikekviner

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⭐Cosclayer Spotlight: Mike Viner⭐