Materials: Red Brass
Dimensions: 5" x 3" x 3"
Reticulated red brass vessel from my series "Studies in Phrenology and Physiognomy".
Photo credit: Robert Thomas Mullen
Robert Thomas Mullen
Houston, TX. USA
My name is Robert Thomas Mullen. I am originally from Illinois but am currently living in Texas. I received my MFA in Metalsmithing from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and my BFA in Metalsmithing and Photography at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. I’m currently a resident artist at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft.
Extracted human wisdom teeth inspire my pieces. Two of my great uncles owned one of the largest false tooth manufacturing companies in the Midwest. In this series, I studied the similarities between a person and their extracted wisdom teeth. I compared the physical characteristics of a wisdom tooth and the body that they were extracted from. This type of science is in the fashion of Phrenological and Physiognomical research. I then produced a one-of-a-kind piece for each of the subjects in the study.
I work in silver, gold, diamond, copper, flocking, rubber, resin and the actual teeth themselves. Techniques include granulation, lost-wax casting, raising, stone-setting, rubber mold-making and aura 22. I use photography to accentuate my work. Venues that have shown my work include Velvet da Vinci, Mesa Contemporary Arts, Luke & Eloy Gallery, and Burren College of Art.
Materials: Red Brass
Dimensions: 5" x 3" x 3"
Reticulated red brass vessel from my series "Studies in Phrenology and Physiognomy".
Photo credit: Robert Thomas Mullen
Robert Thomas Mullen
Houston, TX. USA
My name is Robert Thomas Mullen. I am originally from Illinois but am currently living in Texas. I received my MFA in Metalsmithing from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and my BFA in Metalsmithing and Photography at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. I’m currently a resident artist at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft.
Extracted human wisdom teeth inspire my pieces. Two of my great uncles owned one of the largest false tooth manufacturing companies in the Midwest. In this series, I studied the similarities between a person and their extracted wisdom teeth. I compared the physical characteristics of a wisdom tooth and the body that they were extracted from. This type of science is in the fashion of Phrenological and Physiognomical research. I then produced a one-of-a-kind piece for each of the subjects in the study.
I work in silver, gold, diamond, copper, flocking, rubber, resin and the actual teeth themselves. Techniques include granulation, lost-wax casting, raising, stone-setting, rubber mold-making and aura 22. I use photography to accentuate my work. Venues that have shown my work include Velvet da Vinci, Mesa Contemporary Arts, Luke & Eloy Gallery, and Burren College of Art.