Quirky and Fun Soft Sculpture: The Dia de los Muertos Calaca (Skeleton) Is Finished!

His name is Esmoquin (Spanish for tuxedo). He’s able to make noise with his hip-bell, googley eyes, and also has an extinct T-Rex shoulder. Go get your Open Fashion t-shirt from the Museum of Ventura County and start remixing / customizing!

Skeleton / Calaca Soft Sculpture by Pete Ippel
Skeleton / Calaca Soft Sculpture by Pete Ippel

Regarding the stitching, I used the free-motion foot and various stitches for the accent work around the ribcage. In addition, the button holes were created with a dense zig-zag stitch and a seam-ripper. Inside there is standard quilt batting. All limbs are interchangeable, sort of like a Mr. Potato Head for Halloween / Dia de los Muertos / Day of the Dead.

Inspiration from Nick Cave’s Soundsuits,
Nick Cave's Soundsuits @ YBCA

Claes Oldenburg’s Soft ScissorsI just saw at MOCA,
soft scissors

Inkscape, Free Culture Movement, and the aesthetic and community relationships between the open source graphics community and the fiber arts.

Read more information on how Pete Ippel created the design and concept of the remixable art-wear t-shirt.

Please help support artists~! To purchase this quirky and fun soft sculpture as well as other contemporary art, please check out Pete Ippel Contemporary Art on Etsy and Pete Ippel’s website.

Come see the exhibition of community altars at the Museum of Ventura County.

Published by Pete Ippel

Pete Ippel, the son of a dancer and a musician, was born in Oak Park, Illinois and has been surrounded by the arts since birth. He moved to Morris, Illinois in 1989 and started to participate in athletics rather than dance. After high school, Pete attended Cornell University where he received a BA in psychology and a BFA in photo / digital art making. He continued to follow his sporting dreams in the high jump, which culminated in a school record leap of 7 feet 1/2 inch in 2001. In May 2004 he attained an MFA degree in the New Genres department of the San Francisco Art Institute. Presently Pete is a practicing artist whose work is in numerous private collections and has been exhibited in New York, California, and internationally. Mr. Ippel resides in Working Artists Ventura, a sustainable artist community in southern California. In addition, he teaches art, is a web developer, an active blogger, and still high jumps from time to time. As a passionate problem solver and a pragmatic optimist, Pete’s art and his life are full of exciting challenges.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *