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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Sculpture and Spatial Perception


Color is such a cheap seduction.

The world farther away than 12 inches from my face is a flat plane of fuzzy colors. No edge definition means no depth perception. I live in impressionism.


I got my glasses late in 8th grade. Edges and focus were a revelation. Since that day, I've never taken sight or the experience of depth for granted. I still walk around trees just to see the subtle shifts of relationships of the leaves and branches.

The world is alive with subtle changes of depth and shapes and edges. That's what makes relief carving so fascinating.

Working with this coarse AAC is like low resolution (myopic) carving. The work isn't finished but I've decided that the comb tool marks will be the finished surface. They trap the light far more than if it were smooth.

What sort of finishes do you leave on your sculpture?

1 comment:

Will said...

I love to leave tool marks, on clay or stone, but often have to remind myself that sometimes they go against the reason for the finished piece. I love texture. A smooth polished bronze can usualy look so dull & unimaginative. Tool marks are there to remind the viewer that you're not trying to create a copy. Keep up the great blooging & work!
W