Psychonaut - Small Sculptures

The initial inspiration for the Psychonaut series of small sculptures came from, of all things, a scene in one of my favorite movies, Contact, staring Jodie Foster. In this scene Foster's character Ellie is travelling through space and time via wormholes and she is overcome by the sheer awesome beauty and magnificence of the celestial wonders she encounters and at one point she utters the line, "They should have sent a poet". That line has always stuck with me and there was a moment about half way through working on the first sculpture when something clicked into place and I saw in this piece an astronaut's helmet and she was gazing into space among the stars and planets, with a sun overhead and wormholes before her. At that moment the line popped into my head and I knew what I wanted this sculpture to embody. I hope you enjoy this series of small sculptures.

As a small aside, I want to share with you an extract from a book on Japanese lacquer works called "Breaking Out Of Tradition". The book covers Japanese lacquer work from 1890 to 1950. This short extract touches upon something subtle and essential that is embodied in the spirit and philosophy of these incredibiliy talented and dedicated artisans and craftsfolk which in turns holds a mirror to our modern culture of quick mass produced and consumed items. It's an interesting reflection that warrants some consideration.

"Time-intensive manufacturing processes mean sophistication and preciousness - at any time, in any culture. Today, nothing is more rare than skilfully handmade objects, especially in the Western world. Japanese works of lacquer require hundreds of steps of 'becoming'. For centuries, lacquer masters have conceived, designed and created urushi objects working with special tools and applying vast amounts of experience. Outside of their expertise and specialised world, only the well-trained eye of the learned beholder is able to recognise the artistic value, superb quality and craftsmanship that stand behind each work. It presents special joy to learn from the specialists and connoisseurs as well as gain a deeper understanding of the processes and products." - Breaking Out Of Tradition, Gudrun Buhl, Director, Museum für Lackkunst

	Stone : Amethyst Colour : Purple Item : #1547 Cut By : Doug Menadue, 2021 Design : Psychonaut IX - Arrival Origin : Brazil Treatments : None Weight : 252.90 Carats Clarity : Very Very Slightly Included Size : 44X38X33mm Price : PRICE ON REQUEST This installment in my Psychonaut series of small sculptures finds my far-flung hero on a distant planet. She stands at the top of an ancient set of stairs gazing out over a vast and beautiful desert vista. In the distance are mountains over which moons, planets and stars rise and set in either a dawn or evening sky, she doesn't know which. Something tickles memories long forgotten and she feels she has been here in this place before. She has arrived where once long ago she departed, and a name comes to her... Arrakis! This small sculpture was carved from a gorgeous piece of Brazilian amethyst rough. I have included some pictures of the original stone and it's progression from rough to polished. Working a piece from rough is a very time consuming exercise and is entirely done by hand. The stone needs to be first preformed to grind away any surface flaws, cracks and other defects. This then gives me an idea of what I'm working with. As I'm doing this I'm shaping the stone and developing it's form. Once I am happy with that I then move onto smoothing out the main curves and surfaces with various grades of wet and dry sandpaper. This is hand cramping stuff but it must be done as there is no other way to achieve those wonderful graceful smooth flowing curves. Once this is completed I begin grinding in the various features, such as the planets, suns, mountains, stairs and of course, my psychonaut hero. These are all carefully placed as I am creating a 3D scene and it all needs to make some sort of sense. Right from the very beginning I am imagining what and where I will place things and like a story, the scene develops over time as the sculpted form takes shape. Once the features are ground in I give it another going over with the wet and dry sandpaper to remove any surface marks that I might have made. Next begins the very painstaking process of polishing everything. This is a stage of work that must be done in a carefully sequenced and unrushed way so as to remove all scratches and marks to ultimately leave a highly polished finish. There is alot more to it but I hope this gives you a little insight into the creation of these small sculptures.
	Stone : Prasiolite Colour : Green Item : #1524 Cut By : Doug Menadue, 2021 Design : Psychonaut VIII Origin : Brazil Treatments : Heated Weight : 44.12 Carats Clarity : Eye Clean Size : 33X18.86X11.44mm Price : PRICE ON REQUEST Prasiolite Psychonaut VIII - continuing the cosmic sojourn of my happy little astral traveller.
	Stone : Smokey Quartz WITH SILVER STAND Colour : Golden Smokey / SILVER Item : #1491 Cut By : Doug Menadue, 2020 Design : Psychonaut VII - Aurora Origin : Tasmania, Australia Treatments : None Weight : 148 Carats Clarity : Very Very Slightly Included / Eye Clean Size : 47x35.4x14.4mm Price : PRICE ON REQUEST Another big bold carving in my Psychonaut series. I'm greatly enjoying creating these small sculptures, they are very technically challenging and I am learning alot through the process. They take alot of time, patience and steady progress. I have to pay alot of attention to the details and have to be very careful as I go. What especially captivates me are the inner realms, the scenes within the stone that are created by all the optical effects, the inner reflections, they really do create new worlds.
	I've been working on my Psychonaut series of small sculptures for a while and one of the things I've been wanting to do is to properly display them. This was a challenging exercise, trying to figure out a good way of doing it. The idea was to have a stand made for each sculpture as each is totally unique. I wanted the sculpture to be removable so I designed a presentation stand that I thought would do the trick and I'm very happy with the result. To make it really special the stand is made of silver. This is the first in the Psychonaut series to have a stand made for it. I will be making stands for the others but if you are interested in a particular piece and would like to fast track a stand for it, please contact me. For all enquiries and to view this sculpture please contact or visit COURTESY OF THE ARTIST located in the Strand Arcade in the centre of the Sydney CBD.
	Stone : Citrine Colour : Honey Yellow Item : #1484 Cut By : Doug Menadue, 2020 Design : Psychonaut VI - Saturn Returning Origin : Brazil Treatments : Heated Weight : 85.29 Carats Clarity : Eye Clean Size : 39.5X29X11.5mm Price : PRICE ON REQUEST My intrepid astral travelling psychonaut astronaut pauses for a moment to take in the vision of Saturn returning. Amidst stars and moons the sight of Saturn's ring is one of a dear old friend.
	Stone : Rose de France Amethyst Colour : Purple Item : #1474 Cut By : Doug Menadue, 2020 Design : Psychonaut V - Constellation Origin : Brazil Treatments : None Weight : 91.17 Carats Clarity : Eye Clean Size : 36X29.5X13.5mm Price : PRICE ON REQUEST Here my astral travelling explorer has come across a constellation and she has paused a moment to gaze in wonder upon it. There is such a bounty of amazing things to discover out among the stars. This small sculpture I did from a large piece of rose de france amethyst which has a distinct bi-colour zoning, one half of the stone has a stronger colouring then the other. I tried to work this into the piece and make a wonderful feature of it.
	Stone : Prasiolite Colour : Green Item : #1468 Cut By : Doug Menadue, 2020 Design : Psychonaut IV - A Comet Did Pass Me By Origin : Brazil Treatments : Heated Weight : 40.81 Carats Clarity : Eye Clean Size : 38X19.79X10.20mm Price : PRICE ON REQUEST Here my intrepid astral travelling psychonaut, whilst out about the cosmos, was treated to a special sight as a comet did pass her by. Rare and beautiful she paused to admire the wonderful spectacle as the comet streaked among planets and stars.
	Stone : Citrine Colour : Yellow Item : #1465 Cut By : Doug Menadue, 2020 Design : Psychonaut III - Trinity Origin : O'Briens Creek, QLD, Australia Treatments : None Weight : 68.52 Carats Clarity : Eye Clean Size : 36.5X27X12mm Price : SOLD The third in my Psychonaut series of small sculptures is created from a natural piece of O'Briens Creek citrine that I dug many years ago when I spent some time up that way fossicking for gemstones. I am really enjoying sculpting these pieces, they are a study in patience and attention to detail and they allow me to play and draw out other ways of working with gemstones that I want to explore. With these pieces in the Psychonaut series I want to try and capture or convey a sense of wonderment and child-like awe, and again in this small sculpture we see my little astral traveller passing through the cosmos silently witnessing beautiful and amazing things taking place. The things he must see, things we would never believe!
	Stone : Quartz Crystal Colour : Clear Item : #1462 Cut By : Doug Menadue, 2020 Design : Psychonaut II - I See Lights Origin : Brazil Treatments : None Weight : 99.9 Carats Clarity : Eye Clean Size : 36X18.32X21.52mm Price : PRICE ON REQUEST The second in my Psychonaut series of small sculptures which pays homage to one of my favorite movies, Contact. This small sculpture was made from a fine, clear quartz crystal. It features my little psychonaut astronaut traveling through the cosmos witnessing celestial events, suns and interconnected nodes of consciousness. The crystal's inner surfaces reflect shifting views of it's reality as you move it around and see into it from different perspectives. I've included a polished hole through the small sculpture so that it can be worn as a pendant if desired or it can be kept as an objet d'art.
	Stone : Smokey Quartz Colour : Golden Smokey Item : #1460 Cut By : Doug Menadue, 2020 Design : Psychonaut I - They Should Have Sent A Poet Origin : Tasmania, Australia Treatments : None Weight : 93.76 Carats Clarity : Eye Clean Size : 43.5X28.3X11mm Price : RESERVED This small sculpture, done in natural Australian smokey quartz, was inspired from a scene in one of my all time favorite movies, Contact, staring Jodie Foster. In this scene Foster's character Ellie is travelling through space and time via wormholes and she is overcome by the sheer awesome beauty and magnificence of the celestial wonders she encounters and she utters the line, "They should have sent a poet". That line has always stuck with me and there was a moment about half way through working on this piece when something clicked into place and I saw in this small sculpture an astronaut's helmet and she was gazing into space among the stars and planets, with a sun overhead and wormholes before her. At that moment the line popped into my head and I knew what I wanted this small sculpture to embody. Can you see the astronaut's helmet? This small sculpture, if you wanted to, could be worn as a pendant or simply kept as an object d'art.

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