Super Mario. MegaMan. Tomba.
These are a few of the video games that inspired Kent Caldwell's first-ever exhibition, Otherlands at Blackbird Studios.
Caldwell's mixed-media wall-mounted dioramas show tiny scenes, using tropes from fantasy worlds.
Miniature creatures stand among like-sized crystals and mushrooms. Ferns, moss, domes and pyramids dot the papier mâché landscape and Mario Brothers-style pipes snake through the scenes.
"I do them to bring out the kid in me a little bit," he says. "I'm building things I think my 5-year-old self would geek out about."
Caldwell, an artistic gymnast and Chinese pole specialist with Cirque du Soleil's Mystere, began his art career by making large-scale shadow boxes containing elaborate scenes. Otherlands' sole shadowbox, "Forest2," was designed by children from Kids & Art, a charity to benefit children with rare diseases.
A video installation collaboration with artist a dandypunk features a projected character running through a painted and sculpted wall-mounted landscape.
"It's sculpture come to life," Caldwell says.
Otherlands' closing reception is March 27 from 6 to 9 p.m.
