Hyperrealist sculptor Ron Mueck was born in 1958 in Melbourne Australia.  His parents were toy makers so as a child he participated in the creation of puppets and costumes.  With no other formal art education, Mueck was able to establish a career making models for film and television including Labyrinth and puppets for Sesame Street. Mueck then established his own production company in London, making photo-realistic props and animatronics for the advertising industry.

Since 1996, Mueck has devoted himself full-time to his art.  Though incredibly lifelike, his pieces are always either smaller than life-size or enormous.  Mueck has used fiberglass to create his sculptures  and has started using silicone, a more flexible material that is easier to shape.

Muecks’s works are detailed down to the last mole, the last wrinkle, and the last stubble of hair. The technical skill required to produce such intricate sculptures is mind-boggling.  But even from a photo, one can tell, the power of his sculptures lay not only in the detail or scale, but in the emotions his characters convey – vulnerability, loneliness, boredom – the emotions of every day life.

Mueck has had a number of solo and group exhibitions around the world. In 1999 he was appointed to a two year post as Associate Artist at the National Gallery, London. In 2002 his sculpture Pregnant Woman was purchased by the National Gallery of Australia for AU$800,000.

For more information about Ron Mueck visit Wikipedia,  Artcylopedia, or the source links below.

Sources: Brooklyn Museum, Cybermuse, Wikipedia