Polymer clay has become a favorite among artists and creatives because of its potential. It can be used to make decorations for Christmas trees, jewelry, and increasingly sculptures.
Lamb Danijan Hadžisalihović he showed his love for pop culture through the creation of unique figurines made of polymer clay. The process is complicated, but Hadžisalihović enjoys every detail of it - from shaping to creating details. Although he decided to make figurines based on already recognizable characters, each of his sculptures is unique.
About how he came up with the idea of making figurines from polymer clay, he says:
"I started quite by accident, and what is perhaps more interesting, during the corona and lockdown period in Montenegro, when the company I work for was not spared either, so we were all locked in the house for almost 45 days. As we exhausted all possible forms of entertainment in the house, as everything became monotonous and in order to avoid boredom, I started painting on standard block paper, and then on canvas. That's where my interest in art began," Darijan Hadžisalihović reveals his beginnings.
IT ALL BEGAN WITH THE BABY GROT
Although schools were working online during that period, bookstores were open, so when he bought painting supplies, he also took a package of clay.
"At first I used the clay for other purposes, but we had excess material left and to use it up out of some strange desire I made a pot of Baby Grot from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" series of Marvel films. That's how I ventured into the world of modeling and making figures", said Hadžisalihović.
It started with Groot, and he continued to create in that style, so his work when it comes to figurines is focused on making superheroes, characters from fiction, characters from games.
"Making these sculptures has become my daily routine. In all this time, I don't know the exact number of figures I've made, but I can say that already almost every day I'm looking for a space in the house where I could place the figures. Lately, it seems more and more difficult for me", admits Hadžisalihović with a laugh.
WINNING THE COMPETITION CHANGED THE MANUFACTURING WAY
He made his first figurines from ordinary, paper clay, but at the end of the summer of 2022, the victory in the competition organized by "Papa's Clay", a clay producer from Serbia, influenced him to change the material from which he makes mini sculptures.
“My Witcher figure from the series of games, books and series of the same name won first place. The prize was polymer clay, a material I had only used once before. Only then did I get the opportunity to try out the new material used by professionals around the world. After the competition ended, I started using polymer clay almost exclusively to make my figures," he recalled.
As a fan of comics, it was logical to base his sculptures on the creation of Marvel and DC heroes.
"During the period of elementary and high school, we didn't have comic books from global companies like DC or Marvel, we had Bonelli, who published Zagor, Mister Noah, Marty Misteria, and we had already known Alan Ford, etc... When in during that period, if we mentioned Ironman or Ghost Rider to someone from our area, people would look at us extremely strangely, because we simply did not have access to those characters.
But what we had was satellite television, and foreign channels that played cartoons throughout the day," says Darijan, adding that, in addition to television, "Politikin zabavnik" was his forerunner of the Internet.
"Thanks to that magazine, I had my first contact with characters from the now modern pop culture. So, the love dates back to primary school, and it has continued to this day, even intensified through the Internet, especially after 2008, when the well-known Marvel and DC films were released," adds Hadžisalihović and does not hide that he is a fan of modern mythology, and his interest is not only in comics, but also in the world of science fiction and epic fiction.
Making figurines, he says, requires imagination, but also skill, and that it is possible to make every detail.
"The more details a figure has, the more appreciated it is by the audience and clients," he explains, adding that he uses other materials in addition to polymer clay.
"For the base of the figure, I exclusively use wood, i.e. chipboard boards or ordinary wooden boards made of different types of wood material that are finished to have a more beautiful aesthetic effect. I use aluminum wire, which suits me as a base and gives the figure stability. In this case, the thicker the wire, the more stable the figure. Sometimes, due to the saving of material, which is not cheap, I also use aluminum foil, which offers me more advantages for work. In addition to saving me material, with aluminum foil I can make the first outlines of the figure, which helps me in the design itself, both the pose and that way I have a guideline. In addition to this function, it also helps me in the process of baking the figure, because the thinner layers of polymer clay 'harden' faster and easier in this way, but what I use most in my work is polymer clay", reveals the method of making Hadžisalihović.
Polymer clay is a type of plastic that, after shaping, is baked at higher temperatures, which makes the figure more flexible and of better quality than water-based clay.
"Polymer clay allows me to make better work, more details, saves me time. Unfortunately, I purchase the material from abroad, in our bookstores and suppliers of art materials there is no polymer clay in larger packages. What they offer are small quantities that are not enough for me to make," said Hadžisalihović, who needs from a kilogram to a kilogram and a half of clay to make one figure.
He does not hide that when it comes to the production process itself, he enjoys making the head or face the most.
"That's where the sculpture gets its character, and the rest are all additions. However, I also enjoy the process of detailing the figure, because they mean everything. The richer the figure, the more tempting it is. I have to admit, the last process in making the figure is the most difficult, and that is painting it. This process requires the most time, because it can emphasize the details and highlight the beauty of the figure even more. In the same way, even the best sculpted detail can be lost and disappear in that process", reveals Hadžisalihović.
There are both small and large figures in your collection, and it is the size that dictates how long it will take to make it.
“Now I make figures in 1/4 or 1/6 scale, which is between 30 cm and 40 cm tall. That size of the figure is ideal for me for now, because it allows me to approach production more easily, to pay more attention to details, to better convey the proportions to the figures according to what I imagined. However, this figure format brings with it two problems. One of them is the consumption of material, which for this height is much higher than with smaller formats. I have already mentioned that even with the savings, that expenditure ranges between one and a half to two kilos of polymer clay. Another problem is the time frame for making the figure, and in this case it's about 10 to 15 days, that is roughly 50 working hours that I spend on making the entire figure, including designing, applying materials and finally painting," said Hadžisalihović. .
FOR REAL LOVERS
When it comes to smaller formats, for now he concentrates on making busts, but also characters from the field of pop culture.
Darijan recently exhibited his figures at the first Montenegro Future festival in Bar, and about the visitors' reactions to them, he says:
"People's reactions are positive, and of course all praise for such events in our country. The gaming festival, Montenegro Future Festival, was dedicated to video games, and in one part of the program, a FIFA tournament was held with a prize fund of 10 euros. Colleague and comrade, Andrija Vujosevic, author and designer, and my little one exhibited our works as representatives of the creative industry from our city of Bar. There should be a hundred more of these and similar manifestations, and in different forms. Recently, a Strip Art festival dedicated to comics and local authors was also held in Bar, where I myself participated as one of the exhibitors. The festival lasted only one day, but we noted great interest from domestic visitors and tourists in the town under Rumija. We hope that there will be more festivals like this, and that they will last longer, because they bring only benefits for everyone", he believes.
He makes figurines from polymer clay as a hobby, and his works are for those true and true fans of pop culture.
“This is strictly from an enthusiast to an enthusiast. For the very reason that I am a fan myself, I take more care and put more effort into the whole process, because in this way, greater trust is created, as well as better work. The entire figure is made exclusively by hand, I try to give my stamp to the unique work in this way. However, in this way, I am not able to copy an already done figure, ie to make several more of the same. All figures are unique. It is precisely for this reason that I watch and follow new technologies and the 3D printing industry is more and more attractive to me. It enables exactly what I lack now, commercial use and printing of multiple units of the same figure".
Today, we can buy similar figures in stores, but they are made of questionable, often very toxic plastic. However, the sculptures of Hadžisalihović are not harmful to health.
"Today, everything is changing, and everything is oriented towards ecology and a healthy environment, so this is also the case with materials. Companies are investing huge resources in environmentally friendly products, so even the plastic that has been used recently can be degradable. The polymer clay I use is non-toxic, biodegradable and has a unique structure. There are also manufacturers in the world who make polymer clay from edible materials," he concludes.
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