My imagery has its roots in the ancients, like the Hindu and the Mayan, and the work is archetypal in nature. The forms are primal and naive, and though brut, they are fluid and sophisticated. My creations exemplify Karl Jung's theories of the universal creative unconscious, and they are thus metaphors that emulate the mythologies and commonalities of our species.
Intuitively modeled in clay in an arduous sculptural process, the sculptures are surreal creations covered with intricate motifs. The images are odd, timeless and cosmic. My style is complex, ornate and baroque. It is tactile and visually intriguing, and the works are intended to present a bold look into the aspects of humankind, the obvious and the hidden, the haunting and the humorous. The sculptures are a play on our physical and emotional features, and though the works are titled, the names are but labels. The forms are otherworldly, their interpretations are limitless, and they lend themselves to scenario.
Representational and figurative, my themes are a product of extensive travel, a thousand ink drawings, free expression, immense deliberation, imaginative clay play and labor. The sculptures are fun and funny, satiric and whimsical, and they are dream-like visual representations of my world view. The figures are anthropomorphic creatures, they are grotesque fantastic icons, and they are "Gods for Future Religions." My sculpture is but a peak into my spectacular world, my life's work of more than 300 sculptures.
Ho Baron was born in Chicago in 1941 and raised in El Paso, Texas on the Mexican border. Baron earned a BA and MA in English, writing his Master's thesis on Joyce Cary's concept of the "artist as child," a guiding theme he still abides by. A stint in the Peace Corps in Nigeria and Ethiopia further sparked his creative spirit as he grew intrigued with primitive, intuitive African art. He settled in Antwerp, Belgium in 1970, where he worked as the photographer for a cartoonists" collective. In the late 70's, Baron returned to the United States and studied sculpture, first at the Philadelphia College of Art and later at the University of Texas. He had earned a second master's degree in library science along the way and worked part time as a college librarian allowing him free time for his creative endeavors.
Ho grew in his personal expression from writing into the visual arts: photography, pen and ink drawing, painting, print making to eventually create more than 300 narrative bronze and cast stone figures. In addition, he occasionally publishes a satirical newspaper, "The El Paso Lampoon," he's had photo exhibits, he printed a photo book entitled A Hoverview, he produced a "new music" radio program for ten years on NPR, and he's created short videos of his sculpture. A long-time proponent of the arts, he served on the City of El Paso Public Art Committee 2006-2007 and is currently on the board of the Texas Society of Sculptors.
Ho's found expression in the visual arts, particularly sculpture, the most free and most gratifying. He occasionally took art courses, but he's primarily self-taught thus his expression is intuitive. Sculpture, in particular, has been his greatest passion for more than 30 years. It's the tactile aspects of it, its challenges and the varied activities involved in producing each work that holds his continued attention. His theme is of the human form, and he abstracts it with unique motifs of surreal imagery that he's developed. His sculptures seem to be water-like creatures, some say they are Asian in appearance, some say perhaps Mayan. Perhaps reflective of his travels, perhaps fantasies of his readings, they are unique and look like deities of an ancient culture pulled from a remote lagoon. Ho coins his collective works "Gods for Future Religions".
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