The Simpsons voice actress Nancy Cartwright appeared in Midtown New York on Friday to unveil a sculpture she created as a gift to Fox. With no formal training, aside from a one-hour class she took three years ago, she unveiled a bust of Bart Simpson in full Bartman mode.
The NY Post reports that after she saw the sculpture of Homer Simpson at the Fox lot in Los Angeles, she was inspired to bring her trademark character to News Corp’s East Coast headquarters:
“I had seen other people work with clay, and there was something inside me . . . I had this innate knowing that I could sculpt,” she tells The Post. “It’s a different kind of artistic gratification than I get from creating voices.”
It took roughly 20 hours total for Cartwright to make the Bart Simpson bust. It was her son’s suggestion to add the final detail Bartman’s cape:
“That kind of made it; it really established who Bart really is with the cape,” she says.
Another copy of the bust was commissioned by Fox to be featured at the University of Southern California’s campus in celebration of the 25th anniversary of The Simpsons. Will there be more clay busts inspired of characters from the animated series in her future? Possibly. Cartwright says she is interested in broadening her artistic endeavors with more of these works of art in the future:
“I would love to make more,” Cartwright says, “and do more famous and well-loved characters throughout history.”
With so many characters featured through the show’s 26 seasons, which one best deserves to be immortalized in clay? Speak now internet, or forever hold your peace.
(Via NY Post, Associated Press)