Three Months in the making, my first Bronze Object is filed, sanded, polished and ready to show.
Its really quite a simple Object mainly made in an effort to see and understand the processes of Bronze Casting in action. I started with a clay ‘base’ into which I inserted two cuboids made from wood. There were a few concepts behind my decision to use this particular form, firstly I was interested to see how, when the Object is cast into Bronze, the only evidence of the original materials is the contrast between the grain and geometric rigour of the wood, and the (appearance of) soft, malleable clay. Secondly I had been looking at Rodin’s Bronze torsos, which were seen as vulgar abstractions of the human form, and was interested in this notion of taking an abstract, yet soft and supple, form (the clay) and inverting its relationship to the plinth: thrusting the wood pieces (metaphors for the plinth) into the subject form (moreover this violent action could perhaps symbolise the sexual aggresion of Rodin’s own sculptures?). Lastly the overall shape of two protrusions, thrusting out from the centre, evoke the New York standpipes of which so much of my recent work has focused upon.
I’ve included a few close detail photographs to show some of the surfaces I’ve been banging on about.
Woah Teal it’s good to see you doing some sculpture! I like it too! Bump x