{"id":386164,"date":"2026-04-07T10:29:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T10:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/386164\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T10:29:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T10:29:17","slug":"artist-creates-cardboard-figure-sculptures-inspired-by-his-family-and-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/386164\/","title":{"rendered":"Artist Creates Cardboard Figure Sculptures Inspired by His Family and Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cardboard<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Road Leads Home\u201d<\/p>\n

For many of us, cardboard is something we give little thought to. Once it\u2019s served its purpose, it\u2019s time to recycle it. But not for artist Warren King<\/a>. He works with the ubiquitous material and creates incredible sculptures<\/a> of figures, often inspired by his family history. The three-dimensional pieces feature free-standing people, busts, and relief sculptures, each telling a story.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese works are part of an ongoing series reflecting on how my family made its way from China to the American Midwest,\u201d King tells My Modern Met. \u201cTogether, they look at how culture, myth, traditions, and family stories carry through migration\u2014often in ways you don\u2019t expect. In making them, I\u2019ve started to see more clearly how much my parents\u2019 and grandparents\u2019 experiences shaped me, even during the years when I felt disconnected from my roots.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some pieces are explicitly about his elders. In his sculpture titled The Road Leads Home, King depicts his grandmother, bag slung over her hip and baby on her back, as she embarks on a new journey that would eventually bring her from China to the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cShortly after getting married, her husband, a pilot in the Air Force, was relocated to a distant city,\u201d King explains. \u201cUnable to endure the separation, she gathered her belongings and her infant son, and set out on foot through the war-torn country. It would be the last she ever saw of her family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other works reflect on King\u2019s experience growing up in the racially homogeneous (white) Midwestern U.S. as a person of color and a member of an immigrant family. \u201cMask Bearer,\u201d he shares, \u201c[is] based on my experiences performing in Chinese cultural events while growing up in Wisconsin, this piece reflects on the mix of emotions that came with it\u2014shame and pride, a sense of community alongside a feeling of being out of place. It\u2019s a meditation on what it means to grow up in a diaspora, caught between belonging and dislocation.\u201d<\/p>\n

While his family history has been at the forefront of his work, King has recently started a new series of sculptures that, while personal, diverge from earlier themes. With the working title of Untitled, he\u2019s drawing on memories of raising his two sons. \u201c[I\u2019m] exploring how fatherhood and building an art practice have been completely intertwined for me\u2014inseparable, really.\u201d Expect to see more from King on that soon.<\/p>\n

Scroll down to see more work from King, and set your calendars for a short documentary about him and his work to be released in May. It\u2019s part of the new season of In the Making<\/a>, produced by PBS\u2019 American Masters.\n<\/p>\n

Artist Warren King works with cardboard and creates incredible sculptures of figures, often inspired by his family history.
\n\"Cardboard<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Road Leads Home\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cardboard<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mask Bearer\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cardboard<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mask Bearer\u201d<\/p>\n

The three-dimensional pieces feature free-standing people, busts, and relief sculptures, each telling a story.
\n\"Cardboard<\/p>\n

\u201cMott Street Flute Player\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of his recent works are of people he encounters in New York\u2019s Chinatown.
\n\"Cardboard<\/p>\n

\u201cMulberry Street Fruit Seller\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been drawn to the vibrancy and density of this Chinese-American community\u2014it feels so different from the more sparse one I grew up in. By capturing specific people in particular places and moments, I\u2019m slowly exploring what community really means.\u201d
\n\"Cardboard<\/p>\n

\u201cMulberry Street Fish Monger\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cardboard<\/p>\n

\u201cCanal Street Purse Vendor\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cardboard<\/p>\n

\u201cHester Street Vegetable Seller\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cardboard<\/p>\n

\u201cBlocking the Elephant\u2019s Eye\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cardboard<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Distance We\u2019ve Traveled\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cardboard<\/p>\n

One of King\u2019s latest pieces draws on memories of raising his two sons.
\n\"Cardboard<\/p>\n

\u201cUntitled\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[I\u2019m] exploring how fatherhood and building an art practice have been completely intertwined for me\u2014Inseparable, really.\u201d
\n\"Cardboard<\/p>\n

\u201cUntitled\u201d<\/p>\n

Warren King: Website<\/a> | Instagram<\/a>
\nMy Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Warren King.
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\nArtist Creates Immersive Marine Seascapes Swarming With Cardboard Animals<\/a>
\nArtist Turns Cardboard Scraps Into Sci-Fi Sculptures Inspired by Past Visions of the Future<\/a>
\n