Neo Vantage

Art, Sculpture, Moulding, Casting. All by me, Nikita Volchik. NeoVantageStudios on Etsy, NeoVantage on Instagram and Youtube.

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Meet the Mushrooman. Fungi with a heart of gold, brought to life by a wizard with a penchant for ball jointed dolls. Roaming the forest floor, these creatures question their new lives; with a purity that comes from the newness of original creation they have no prejudices, hatred, anger, or fear. Mushroomans look for their own place in the world, moving slowly as they are enraptured by the myriad wonders which exist in the universe. This one of a kind figure stands at 8 inches tall, is approximately 7 inches deep, and 6 inches wide.

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"Headache" is a power carved wood sculpture standing at 11.5 inches tall. It occupies a footprint of approximately 12 inches by 10 inches. The skull is carved from cherry at approximately 3/4 scale while the spirit is made of walnut. The Spirit, Arms, and Skull are all separate pieces which key together with brass rods. No tools are required for assembly, the pieces simply slot into each other. The Spirit's eyes have been poured with a black epoxy. The whole piece is sprayed in a gloss clear coat.

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Spirit of Germination is a power carved wood sculpture featuring padauk and purpleheart. The stem and leaves are epoxy clay, painted in acrylics. The entire piece is coated in a lacquer, giving it a gloss finish. Spirit of Germination stands approximately 4.75 inches tall, with the spirit itself having a diameter of 1.75 inches, while the leaves splay out to 3.5 inches.

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Memento Mori - Natural Burial is a one of a kind piece built entirely from scratch. The skull is hand sculpted in epoxy clay over a hand carved XPS foam core. The cervical vertebrae are hand carved from PVC board. The tree and its limbs are sculpted from epoxy clay set upon a steel wire armature. Parts of the piece are flocked with sand to create a realistic earth effect. The whole statue stands at 17 inches tall to the highest branch. The branches span an area roughly 13 inches round. The base is approximately 6 inches round. Everything is painted entirely by hand with acrylic paints in a vibrant and eerie color scheme. The skull was sculpted using an anatomical casting as reference, and the cervical vertebrae were carved using medical 3D models as reference. These components are life sized.

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Red Cap Shambles is a one of a kind piece based on a treant body. This treant, hollowed out and abandoned in the woods is given new life by the fungi that decided to take up residence in his husk of a body. Inspired by chanterelle mushrooms this statuette stands 5.75 in high, and occupies a footprint of approximately 5 in by 4 in. It utilizes a slush-cast Shambles body, which was then sculpted upon with epoxy clay. Finally it was hand-painted in acrylics.

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Chanterelle Shambles is a one of a kind piece based on a treant body. This treant, hollowed out and abandoned in the woods is given new life by the fungi that decided to take up residence in his husk of a body. Inspired by chanterelle mushrooms this statuette stands 5.5 in high, and occupies a footprint of approximately 5 in by 4.25 in. It utilizes a slush-cast Shambles body, which was then sculpted upon with epoxy clay. Finally it was hand-painted in acrylics.

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This is #2 of the Hollowed Series. Hollowed is an ongoing sculptural series exploring the feeling of emptiness; the feeling itself, the causes of those feelings, the outward representation that results, and our responses/remedies. The series is tied together by the use of the base "Hollowed Treant" model and ranges from exploratory paint schemes to pieces with a tremendous amount of additional sculptural work. This particular piece measures 4in high, with a 5in diameter base. The base is flocked to resemble grass, and the treant itself is painted in a blue, green, and yellow scheme. Being depressed, sad, shocked, afraid, or one of any of the many gut-wrenching emotions isn't always depicted on one's face. Sometimes we just look hollow.

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Ever wonder where a Shambles comes from? It grows from an acorn of course! Long suspected and ultimately discovered in the depths of an upstate New York forest, these acorns are dropped in the autumn and burrow deep in the ground. Warm and cozy in the soil they lie in wait for small insects to wander near their mouth and SNAP! A quick and nutritious meal. These creatures try to survive until spring when they emerge from the ground with their first branches. Once upon the forest floor, they are ready to hide amongst the saplings, snatching up beetles, centipedes, and perhaps even small rodents. Opportunists, they hunt by standing perfectly still, blending in with surrounding trees, and waiting for something to get just a bit too close. Given enough time and meals, a Shambles can grow larger than any tree in the forest. Quite impressive for something which started out so small. Hand cast in polyurethane resin and lovingly hand painted, these cute baby creatures measure approximately 4.5" x 4" x 4.25" while embodying the spirit of a sleepy child, personified in acorn form.

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If you've ever started something and gone on a rollercoaster ride of misconceptions as that venture took turns you never imagined, then you can understand the journey of this piece. It started out as something completely different in my mind. Hands molded it into something more alien. Its been repainted four times. Given an acetone wash just to see what would happen. A base was suggested. All the while the idea of what it is, the story of him, has changed tremendously. But that's just about what he means to me, and that's my personal connection. How he appears to you is what matters and I'd never want to take away any feeling that someone experiences when looking at art by tainting it with an unasked for viewpoint. So I implore you to make your own decisions.

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Hand-cast in Polyurethane Resin, standing at 2.5 inches tall, showing off his blue fur and rosy cheeks, meet Herbert Little-feet. A balding worry-wart who wanders around the cold and windy forests looking for a cozy home to rest his little footsies. Deep in the forest hiding amongst leaf litter and fallen logs small creatures frolic. Little toes waggling as they scurry around, collecting fallen leaves and twigs. These creatures build small homes in the hollow remains of fallen trees in order to keep the rain off their balding heads. The elusive and mischievous little-feet have been known to cause all manner of sounds in the deep dark of the woods. The next time you're wandering in the forest and hear a twig snap or some leaves rustle, you might have more eyes on you than you'd expect.

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Grumpy Dumpy. The grumpiest dumpling this side of the Mississippi. A life size anthropomorphic dumpling, 1.5 inches tall and about 2.5 inches wide. Originally sculpted in Magic Sculpt Epoxy Clay, molded, and cast into a small run of 20 pieces.

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Shambles, a big ol’ treant sculpture standing at nearly 12 inches, and spreading its limbs out at approximately 17. I sculpted him in Chavant NSP Hard, molded him into five very big, heavy, and complicated molds, and finally cast a limited run of 6 + APs in resin. Painted in acrylics, clear coated in enamel. He’s a big old boy.