Artwork copyright Clark Wiegman. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Zyx, 1988

Clark Wiegman
American (born 1960)

Location: Northeast Tacoma Elementary, Tacoma

About the Artwork

Zyx is a whimsical sculpture created by artist Clark Wiegman. It is part of his "Scary Guys" series. He based these sculptures on children's drawings and stories about their dreams and fears. He asked children to sit with their parents and draw the scariest thing they could imagine. Their parents recorded the stories they told about these creatures. He then considered overarching issues about age, gender, family, place, and media influence. He related each child's fears to his own. He calls these sculptures "phobia portraits" and makes them out of rubber. He notes, "I wanted to find the wobbly line, the raw rage, the sense of empowerment from delineating fears in my own work."

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Tacoma Public Schools.

About the Artist

Clark Wiegman creates artworks for public spaces. His works respond to their surrounding culture and environment, and focus on collaborative placemaking. They include temporary projects, sound and light installations, and sculptures made from a variety of materials. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and art from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1983.