Indiana Artists Sculpt Monsters, Dinosaurs Out of Papier-Mache.

by Jeff Himler

From The Tribune Review, Nov 28, 1999

Indiana PA --Today's filmmakers spend millions on computers to summon dinosaurs from the prehistoric past and set them loose in theaters around the world. Gene Fenton, on the other hand, chooses to produce dinosaurs and other exotic creatures with an approach that although low-tech is high on inventiveness.

Working with fellow Indiana area artist Lisa Omasta, Fenton uses the bare-bones medium of papier-mache to add dimension to his fantasies of giant lizards and dragons on the prowl.

Inspired in part by the monster movies of the 1960s, Fenton tries to strike a balance in style between the clunky behemoths portrayed in those films and the slick, digitally enhanced versions of today. "I like dinosaurs with lots of scales and spikes," he said. "They give me the greatest opportunity to experiment with color and texture."

Fenton begins each creature with a core armature constructed from any variety of handy materials like cardboard, plastic, pop bottles, masking tape, and balloons. He then fleshes out the initial framework with layers of papier-mache, which is small strips of paper dipped in a paste of flour and water.

Omasta, who brings a passion for Halloween and horror movies to the paper-art form, has pasted together giant spiders as well as ancient reptiles. "A lot of people are afraid of spiders," Omasta said. "I don't particularly like them, but in papier-mache, I can get really creative making tentacles and legs."

To construct industrial-sized insects she has used such building blocks as tin foil, chicken wire, toilet paper rolls and her children's empty juice boxes. "That's what's fun about papier-mache," she said. "There are so many recyclable things in your house you can use. It's so cheap to do, and it's wonderful when it's done." For instance, she snipped compartments from an egg carton to serve as the eight eyes for one of her arachnids.

STUDIED ABSTRACT ART
Fenton, who holds a degree in sculpture and printmaking from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, invested most of his efforts while in college in abstract art. "At the time, it was the thing to do," he said. "If you'd told me back then I'd be doing papier-mache, I'd have said you were nuts."

He changed his focus about three years ago, when he noticed a photo of a man who had won an award by assembling a resin dinosaur model. Inspired by the man's success, Fenton decided to craft his own Jurassic sculptures. "I wanted to use clay, but I didn't have the facilities," he recalled. "So I started playing with papier-mache."

Fenton met his future partner in art about a year later at a Halloween party. "He (Fenton) had made a head of papier-mache to go with his costume," which was that of a bug with big fangs,  Omasta remembered. "I thought it looked great."

Omasta, who is self-taught at sketching, began exploring papier-mache with Fenton's assistance. The two have since combined their talents and common interest in monsters under the title of G and L Papier-Mache. They've displayed their works in an Indiana storefront and are hoping to take on students who want to learn the basics of papier-mache.

At this summer's Brush Valley Day festival, they conducted a workshop and provided a papier-mache fox figure for a fund-raising prize.

Omasta and Fenton believe that papier-mache, which for many years has been relegated to elementary art classes, has had a bad reputation. They feel, however, that it is ready to make a comeback as a legitimate form of expression alongside its more accepted cousins--clay sculpture and pottery. "You have to treat papier-mache like clay," said Fenton. "At times, you have to get your hands into it, squeeze it and mold it."

TEDIOUS TASK
Although papier-mache is his medium of choice, Fenton admits that working in it can be tedious. He explained that while clay is readily manipulated, layers of papier-mache must be allowed to partially dry and harden before the artist uses a knife or sandpaper to strip away unwanted material and recontours the figure with freshly dampened swatches.

Although the ingredients for papier-mache are simple, molding them into a well-proportioned figure can be a complicated process, according to Fenton. "It takes a lot of patience," said Fenton, noting that details are crucial to achieving the desired effect. "You've got to get it right."

The two artists point out that working with papier-mache presents other challenges. For instance, animals attracted to the flour base of papier-mache have been known to destroy works that have been left outside to dry. Wasps can also present problems if they mistake the wet paper shell for a cozy nest. Exposure to rain or dew is another problem for papier-mache items left outdoors. A preferred choice is drying the works inside, perhaps in front of a dehumidifier.

DISPLAY WORKS
Fenton and Omasta said they are determined to gain recognition for their chosen art form but don't intend to stray from the quirky nature of their pieces. Their creations have been featured in the display window of The Costume Shop on Indiana's North Sixth Street. Owner Donna Stewart said her customers have been captivated by the changing cast of creatures in her storefront that range from an oversized beetle to a green and red spider enticing onlookers into its web.

Omasta said the 8-pound arachnid is meant to remind viewers of the colorful, creepy toys of their youth. "It's like the rubber ones you see when you take your kids into the dime store," she said. "We didn't want a black or a brown spider. We want our pieces to be unique."

Fenton recently crafted a duckbill dinosaur for display at Cafe Curio, an Indiana coffeehouse located near the IUP campus. An earlier dinosaur has made it to the pages of a horror movie magazine called Famous Monsters of Filmland and a late-night horror movie showcase produced in Mississippi dubbed Enigma Theater.

Some of Fenton's papier-mache works were recently displayed in a two-person show at Studio Z Gallery on the south side of Pittsburgh. During the exhibit, eight of his horned and fanged sculptures were paired with gallery owner Kathleen Kimbicki's paintings, which were inspired by alligators.

Fenton plans to take his papier-mache creations even farther out from the ordinary by combining aspects of dinosaurs and insects into mutant strains from his own imagination. He is also planning to create sea creatures, using the decorations on old ocean maps for inspiration.

In addition, he wants to flex his artistic skills by making bats and other papier-mache creatures with wings and perhaps doing some works in welded steel.

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