Doing something that potentially makes you feel uncomfortable is the best way to learn. Why do what you know? You will never explore new ground, yes you will make mistakes but you will also discover. I have chosen Sculpture as my first major (5 week) workshop. It is something I have no real technical knowledge of and an area that I have previously ignored, yet when I am given items to work with I can't help but assemble them into a three dimensional object.
After an initial brief and looking at relief sculptures from the past and present it was a case of here's some clay, create something that will be a negative shape and at the end of the session we will prepare it for the plaster pour and once set the object can be revealed.
Artist we were encouraged to look at were: Giacomo Manzu, Henry Moore, Karin Ruggaber, Thomas Houseago, Alan McCollum, Anna Barribal, August Rodin, Charles Sargeant Jagger, Geoffrey Clark, David Smith, Rachel Whiteread, Charles Hadcock.
Some I was aware of but as with any of these projects there is always a lot to research and explore.
Working with clay requires a certain amount of play. Any material gives a certain feedback and only by play can you see how it will work, what it will offer and what it will resist. Initially I tried to take a mould of my face to see if it would hold any of the features but it would only give a limited impression. Clearly this is something for another material at a later date. After trying this and then by playing with the same elements of the clay I found I had some pieces that were almost like folds of skin, so I started to see how these could be incorporated into a larger area.
I also started to construct a smaller, more controlled shape, not following any predetermined thoughts but just kept playing and adding elements to this construction, almost as if I was making it out of small blocks and bricks, some joined, some not. By doing so it also created apparent passageways and paths, most of which didn't go anywhere as they were blocked or had other paths crossing. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out as it was a negative space I was creating. Then it was time for the pour after adding extra strength to the edges.
As I had a small amount of time left I decided to see if I could use a walnut to shape a hollow out of clay and see what the resulting shape looked like. The walnut had such an interesting texture it was going to be intriguing as to what the result would be.
A little bit of escaping plaster but nothing too drastic. The walls had held.
Now it was time to let them set and once set remove the clay to see what the positive results were. This required quite a bit of cleaning, scraping out the cavities and scrubbing with an old toothbrush.
I felt this piece when looked at from certain angles and plains had a lot of face like qualities. This was not necessarily the intention but as it was a development from the original attempt to take a mould of my face it seemed to retain facial features. Mask like but still face like too. I will probably paint it white to just neutralise the shape and help to clean it up.
This item is quite interesting as it retained the pathways, walls and apparent steps. It was never intended to be but when you cannot help but look to make sense of an abstract item and try to define it. Sometimes I don't like this, I wish it would just be seen as it is but sometimes it is necessary to make sense of an object and look to develop further. Having spoken to a tutor I intend to take this further and see what multiples of this type of shape produces.
This item is the one using the walnut to create the texture. Yes the texture is interesting but it does make the piece seem even more as if it is a pice of abstracted landscape. Not sure where this item is going to go. Maybe not as far as the others.
Comentarios