Pages

Monday, March 31, 2014

Sculpture and Productivity

The hardest part of carving is showing up and working until it starts to actually look like art.
That can take a very long time.

Music helps sustain my focus. I've been listening to Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances and his Trittico Botticelliano. It's joyous, which helps when I'm discouraged by how slow this process is.


Also read Helene Wecker's The Golem and the Jinni,  a fantastic novel set in New York in 1899.
It's a wonderful tale.
 
The story was meaningful to me because it reminded me of the universality of a creation myth. 
Working day after day on a log, carving it into looking like a woman I met forty years ago,
 feels like summoning not just her but my younger self as well.
  Sculpture is not a golem, but creating either requires tremendous will, skill, and faith.

1 comment:

Deb said...

Then there's the Jinni- he's hard to pin down, but always present in that studio.
25Caught a dance with him recently ....