BOZEMAN — Burning Man is an annual art festival held in the deserts of Nevada, drawing in thousands of free spirits and many artists who specialize in over-the-top sculptures.
One local artist returned home after showing off his 1-ton, 12-foot tall Jackalope sculpture. So, I met with that artist to discuss his sculpture and experience.
“So, it’s all stainless steel, except for the saddle and the eyeballs. They’re handblown glass from a guy in Townsend,” says Clinton Lesh.
Clinton is a full-time sculptor. Born and raised on a ranch in Southeast Montana, he’s had his hands on welding materials since he was young. But Clinton tells me his sculpting career didn’t pick up until he went to art school at Montana State.
That's when he was introduced to his mentor. A local artist named Jim Dolan, whose work you may have seen around, including the Blue Horses in Three Forks, the elk herd off main street in Bozeman, multiple statues at Montana State, and more.
“It’s great having Jim. He’s shown me so many different processes of making art and things to do and things not to do. Just the wisdom he has is really rubbing off” says Clinton.
And with that wisdom, and years of practice, Clinton tells me his fiancé finally convinced him to apply for Burning Man. And if you don't know what that is?
“Burning man is an art festival in the desert,” says Clinton, “where there's nothing there, then 70,000 people move out to the desert. And it’s all about radical self-reliance. So, you can’t buy anything, sell anything. You have to bring all your own stuff."
Every year Black Rock City in northwestern Nevada is filled with hundreds of large sculptures from people all over the world. The name Burning Man comes from the final ceremony where they quite literally have a symbolic burning of a large wooden man. Clinton tells me artists are able to apply for the Burning Man art grant to help build their sculptures.
“About 700 people apply, and around 160 get grants. And they give out about 3.5 million dollars worth of grants,” says Clinton.
Clinton was granted $16,500 for his Jackalope, and got right to work. So, I asked him to walk me through his process.
“On most of my big projects, I make a maquette (scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture). I start with figuring out the position of the legs, the balance, and movement of everything. Then you start at the feet and work your way up and you eventually end up in the face,” says Clinton.
And the inspiration behind the Jackalope?
“It’s kind of our Bigfoot in eastern Montana. And as a little kid you think ‘oh that's cool I want to find one of those’. Eventually you kind of grow out of it but I think its more fun to be open to that kind of thing and remember it fondly,” says Clinton.
The sculpture took about 5 months to complete, then Clinton was off to Burning Man. And if you’re curious how he got this 1-ton beast all the way down to Nevada?
Clinton says, “We used a forklift to get it on the trailer. I have yet to pick it up by hand”
He says the Jackalope was a hit at Burning Man, folks were lining up to ride the sculpture and, in fact, his sculpture made the front page of San Francisco News.
Between the lights he installed through a cleverly placed trap door, and the sculpture itself being something of a jungle gym, Clinton tells me, “This piece is definitely the pinnacle of my art career so far. It’s kind of taken a little piece from my whole life. Which is really special to me”.
And although this Jackalope may be priceless to Clinton, it is for sale! If you want to know more about Clinton, you can visit him at any of these platforms:
WEBSITE: ClintonLeshSculptures.com
INSTAGRAM: @LESHCLINTON
FACEBOOK: CLINTON LESH
