Aaron • 10 • Galway
CommendationI was inspired to make this sculpture because, when I was younger, my dad used to tell me old Irish ghost stories and I decided to make a sculpture of Jackeen Lantern which is one of the characters from these stories. Jackeen was one of the worst and most horrible liars in Ireland and the devil thought that, since he was so horrible, he would bring him to hell early. But Jackeen was smart and he tricked the devil twice. Shortly afterwards, Jackeen died and he was refused entry to both heaven and hell. Instead of allowing him into hell, the devil gave him some pieces of hot coal and Jackeen was left to wander the Earth forever. The pieces of coal were so hot that he decided to get a turnip and carve it out and place the pieces of coal inside it and use it as a lantern. This is the origin of the Jack-o-Lantern stories that we know today. How I made the sculpture: First of all, I got modelling wire and I twisted it into the shape of a man’s body. Then I covered the wire in expanding foam. Then I got a bucket of water and some modelling clay. I wet my hands and spread the clay all over the expanding foam. For the cloak, I got some wire mesh and put it around the body. Then I covered the mesh with some modelling clay and I left it to dry. For the lantern, I bent some modelling wire into a cube shape and I added a hook to the top so that I could attach it to the hand. I covered the cube shape with sellotape to give it a glass effect. I got a stick and sellotaped it to the other hand to making a walking stick. I painted the sculpture white all over to make it look like a ghost. I found some white insulation material at home and used it to give a fog effect where he’s walking.
