Art School after 30: Finished Skull

Here are the final stages of the first project...the skull assignment. I had to do some major repairs along the way...hat, glasses, and other clay cracks and gaps. There were so many steps along the way and this project was very time consuming and needed a lot of TLC, but well worth it. Love it! It makes me smile and chuckle every time I look at it. The other students working along side me after hours kept asking what was so funny when I laughed to myself. :oD
By the way...ironically I did a Powerpoint presentation that I put together for my final for my computer class on the subject of Death. But that was a lot more somber and sadder than this!

The finished piece after it shrunk in the kiln and put together weighs over 30 lbs. (unable to get exact weight at this time). It measures about 22" long, 14" wide, and 17" high.

SKULL
ARTIST'S STATEMENT:
The assignment for this first clay sculpture was to make a large table top skull (by observing real sized skull models) and transform it somehow. I initially had other ideas...until one day I was working on the skull in class and out of nowhere the idea of googly eyes came to me. I guess it came to me for adding humor and irony to the dark subject of death and since skulls are so widely trendy as being edgy, rebellious, tough, and such. So, then thought I'd add the hat and "fake" moustache. I did research for the accessories online and at a costume shop (appropriately they were well stocked for Halloween at the time), where I purchased googly eyes (see earlier photo of me next to the skull) and a cheap costume hat.

The hat is meant to look worn/used and I sprayed it with a matte finish. The googly eyes were finished with a gloss spray and the glasses' frames sit along the contours of the skull rather than stiffly over the skull. This is since for this story, they have been on the skull awhile and the heat onto the "plastic frames" has caused them to soften and mold against the skull...and it is a part of "him".

Appropriately, my idea evolved into deeper meanings as I created this piece...depending on how the viewer observes this sculpture and how they react to it. Here are some (and you may contribute to this as well):
1. could be what I said above...about seeing a skull or death in a different way. Or dark humor.
2. a skull was found and someone dressed it up.
3. the person who the skull belonged to was a prankster, causing his death (missing teeth from being punched too many times).
4. the person who the skull belonged to was a violent person, causing his death (missing teeth from being punched too many times), and an enemy had the last laugh.
5. the person who the skull belonged to was a either a phony person or actor, who wore many "masks."
6. death to my past of going incognito/undercover/acting and on to my rebirth as an artist...such as my name on here "Born Again Artist"~~!!!

I 'm still deciding on a title for him.

Would love to hear feedback on your perceptions, what I mentioned above, and title ideas!

First coat of acrylic wash (watered down paint) to seal sculpture, epoxy and plaster for repairs: