Kim Graham

Sculptor and Inventor

Kim Graham has been a professional artist for more than 20 years in the US. Based primarily out of the rainy city of Seattle, she has recently made the move to Wellington to work for New Zealands's Weta workshop. "It is really a perfect fit, I simply adore working with fantasy and mythological images". Kim has worked and taught in huge variety of fields including welding, sculpting, mold making, casting, bronze, ceramic, human anatomy and prop making.

One of the more unusual of her passions is "Performance Art Sculpting which she does at varous conventions and public events. This is her chance to educate and inspire up-and-coming artists by fully sculpting a large fantastical creature on site from beginning to end. This is the perfect opportunity for folks to come and give it a try. Kim always brings extra tools for people who want to experience working on something really big. It is all part of her lifelong interest in teaching and sharing the details of the art field.

A perfect example of this can be found on her online blog, Silkmermaid.com. Here she describes the entire process of building an 18 foot long animatronic mermaid. It shows the work from original concept, to enlarging the work, designing and welding the armature, sculpting the form and getting it into molds. The logistical problems of weight, proper design and man labor are discussed for those both curious and mystified by the process.

Kim Graham is also one of the primary inventive minds behind the Weta legs, a new reverse leg stilt available to the industry and public for the first time.

These can be seen at the Weta Website...

And on Youtube...

To see more of Kim's fantastical work, check out her website at KimGrahamStudios.com