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Artist Dan Lam’s bizarre fluorescent sculptures

Dan Lam’s blob sculptures are bright, colourful works of surrealism. I’m not entirely sure where I’d put one in my own house, mind.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Dan Lam’s sculptures – a mix of synthetic materials that are hand crafted into oozing blobs – were the product of a high budget CGI company. Rest assured, however, that they’re entirely real, and have been making the rounds on social media and internet forums alike.

Dan Lam is a Texas based artist with a hefty Instagram following and a passion for absurdist sculpture. She cites deep sea creatures as her main inspiration for her works, which have a distinctively strange, slightly unsettling aesthetic. They’re abstract to say the least – though the process behind making them is more practical than you may suspect.

"Damsel"

According to an interview with Juxtapoz, Dan says that her process involves pouring polyurethane foam over an under-structure made of recycled materials. She only has two to three minutes to mould the foam until it sets, and she explains that the shape comes by ‘working with gravity rather than against it’.

Acrylic paint is then poured over the sculpture and spikes are added with cake piping tools. Airbrush painting or resin is used for the final touches. The finished sculptures are striking, to say the least, and conjure up associations with nature, coral reefs, and deep ocean marine life.

You can view time lapses of these works on Dan’s Instagram, which includes other pieces outside of her blob collection. Check out more of them here if you’re curious, and if you really dig her work you can pick up your own mini versions here.

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