“She’s in a world of her own”
(Portrait of Amélie Poulain)
Ceramic and Found objects
39″ x 20″ x 18″

Details

In 2001, Tony and Donna saw a movie that would inspire him to make his next large piece. The movie was Amélie (also known as Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain – The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain). It was a whimsical, magical film, with heartwarming and heartbreaking parts where fantasy and reality entwine in a creative and beautiful way. After seeing the movie, Tony was compelled to make a portrait of the main character Amelie. Tony remembers Robert Arneson, his teacher, say, “when making a 3-dimensional sculpture, make sure all sides of the piece are interesting”. In the movie, Amelie as a child had a fantasy character friend who was an alligator, who she would play doctor with. Tony put the alligator perched in the back of her head, to show the creature was out of her mind and to draw interest to the back of the piece. The sculpture is holding a box of treasures that Amelie had found in the wall in her apartment. Tony put some of his own treasures in the box to make it more personal.