Mime

Mime was produced via a circuitous process that began with three-dimensional digital scans of a human model and ended with the machining of commercial-grade aluminum. A male figure—modeled on professional mime Lorin Eric Salm—lies on a cot with his chest slightly inflated, suspended in space and time.

Illusion is fundamental to the art of miming as well as the sculpture itself. Indeed, Ray’s work self-consciously addresses the imitative ability of both its subject and its medium. Mime also leaves the figure’s precise comportment open to interpretation, resulting in a dizzying array of potential readings. The sculpture might represent a mime who is sleeping, a mime who is miming sleep, or a mime who is miming the onset of death. In fact, the figure’s raised arm recalls historical sculptures of mortally wounded or deceased warriors.