I’m a fan of contrast.
Slick chunk of metal with a delicate design etched within, wicked spikes fastened to precious pearls, sparkly Swarovski capping a spent .22 – you get the idea.
Something that’s always struck me is the idea to contrast the Frontier Days of 1800’s western territory exploration (admittedly, inspired in part, by Seth Grahame-Smith’s deeply philosophical Abraham Lincoln – Vampire Hunter, especially the line “where men were few and arrows flew”) with the future. Cyborgs with lassos, dusty metal-jointed tumbleweeds – that sort of thing.
A lot of my work has a taste of this “Future Cowboy” image, but I haven’t quite figured out how to make it a headline. I guess I just need to keep visiting Denver Art Museum’s western collection…
Image: here’s an older piece that has some of that image. Metal flowers with “snakeskin” imprint.