Dhāraṇā

Don’t get spooked — despite their gnarled hands, corpse-colored skin and sunken eyes, Scott Radke’s creations come in peace. “If you wanna get creepy with it, it’s real easy! Any film or music video [they are] involved in goes straight to the dark side,” says the 44-year-old sculptor, whose work made a cameo appearance in Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland.” Even if Scott prefers to bring his caterpillar people and bodiless, baby-cheeked creatures to life in suburban Cleveland nature preserves, he understands the desire to situate them in more shadowy worlds. After all, many of them were born there: Before discovering yoga and meditation, Scott displaced his anxiety and panic attacks by carving their faces. “I’ve always been told I was like Eeyore. I’ve had emotions and feelings I wanted to express and there was just no way I could do it with words. It comes out with what I do,” he says. These days, Scott lives with his daughter, their pet chickens and a lot more serenity — which he wants to pay forward to his soulful-eyed sculptures. “I’m pretty happy and content inside,” he says. “I wish I could write my own stories. I’d put them in something with a positive message.” [from interview with Rebecca Haithcoat via Instagram]