Form and Function
Sculpture is a three-dimensional art form that provides an important
visual way of understanding form and space. What will always remain the
concern of the sculptor is the manipulation of a solid, material body,
whether stone, wood, clay or bronze. Whatever its form or shape,
whether figurative or abstract, sculpture functions to make us aware of
our environment, our space within it and our special connection and
relationship within this shared space.
There are many types sculpture: portrait busts, allegorical and
equestrian figures, funerary, garden sculpture, figurines. Public
sculpture has traditionally been associated with commemorative
monuments or architectural sculpture. Abstraction and assemblage are
the dominant forms of modern sculpture. Yet it seems that the human
form remains a consistent concern for the sculptor; a concern that
re-emerges time and again and confirms man's innate need to fashion his
or her own image.
as an integral part of many ceremonies and events. Often unnoticed, it
gives us a visual reference for our emotional experiences throughout
the passages of life. Tombstones, for example, are a form of sculpture
commemorating death, a universal event.
Sculpture can be made from many different types of materials. You may
know many famous works in marble such as the Venus de Milo and
Michelangelo's David. The voluminous carvings of the Haida or Northwest
Coast Native totem poles and many interior church sculptures are
sculpted from wood. Boccioni's Unique Forms in Space as well as Rodin's
famous statue of The Thinker from the Gates of Hell are all cast in
bronze, and were all first shaped in clay. Different sculptors prefer
to use different materials. Some, like Elzéar Soucy and Sylvia Daoust,
preferred to sculpt in wood. Others like William Oosterhoff and Frances
Loring often carved stone. Still others enjoy using clay, plaster or
even papier maché.
The types of materials often directly effect the composition. A hard
and heavy material like stone can chip or break. Therefore a work in
stone may be more compactly designed. Lighter, more malleable materials
such as bronze allow for dynamism and permit the artist greater
liberties with the composition of the work. Many other materials are
integral to the casting process; clay, metal armature, plaster and wax,
Bronze casting is very
specialized. Because of logistical difficulties and expense, much early
20th century Canadian sculpture was cast in plaster and given a patina
to emulate bronze.
Processes and Techniques
Processes in sculpting vary, and always depend on the materials used.
There is cast sculpture, where a material, such as bronze, begins as a
clay form that is cast in a mould to produce a given shape; there is
also carved sculpture, such as wood or stone. Two distinct methods have
emerged; an additive process, where material is added again and again
to build up the form, for example with clay, and the subtractive
process, where the artist removes or subtracts materials to create the
form, as in marble or stone carving.
Sculpture may be free standing (sometimes referred to as sculpture in
the round even if it is a square shape), often on a pedestal or base
where you can walk around it, or relief, where raised forms project
from a background or surface. There is low relief, where the figure
emerges at a level closer to the surface; and high relief, where the
figure may almost be completely detached from the surface or ground.
Types of representation and composition in reliefs are defined by their
need for the ground plane on which the forms are superimposed or from
which they emerge. Relief can be carved in wood or stone; moulded in
clay or wax; cast in metal, plaster or resin.