Sculpture has been central in religious devotion in many cultures. The western tradition of sculpture began in Ancient Greece. There are two basic kinds of sculpture – free standing such as statues, and the various types of relief which are attached to a background surface. Relief is classified by the degree of projection from the background and is referred to as low bas-relief or high relief. This horse is an example of a bas-relief sculpture I did on a limestone background.
Modern and contemporary art have added a number of non-traditional forms of sculpture, including sound sculpture, light sculpture as in this photo on the left, environmental art, kinetic involving aspects of physical motion, land art and site specific art. Sculpture is an important form of public art so you often see it in parks and public locations. A collection of sculpture in a garden setting can be called a sculptural garden.
The materials used in sculpture are diverse, changing throughout history. The classic materials, with outstanding durability are metal, especially bronze, stone and pottery. This is a bronze sculpture by Canadian artist Sid Treml. In addition to the classic materials a vast number of other materials have been used including my medium of polymer clay.
Through history, decorative sculpture on buildings was considered a trade. My father was a stone sculptor and apprenticed in a small town in Italy. He started by carving water and oil vessels out of blocks of stone. Eventually he moved on to sculpt cemetery monuments, measuring and mapping out the figure on marble before chipping away to reveal the figure. When he immigrated to Canada this skill was mostly replaced by machinery and he moved on to another trade that would feed his family.
Women sculptors took longer to appear than women painters and were less prominent until the 20th century. A very well known sculpture by French-American sculptor Louise Bourgeois is on display in front of the National Gallery of Canada. The spider sculpture “Maman” stands 30′ high by 33′ wide.
This is a very condensed version of the history of sculpture, but it takes you to me. Here I am carving my niche in the world of sculpture with a relatively new medium and a new outlook. I hope you continue to follow my blogs and my work.