Sculpture Studio
Jillian Macha '05
Materials and methods employed in the creation of sculpture are inseparable from imagery and ideas expressed.The range of materials available to contemporary sculptors is vast. While many artists continue to produce (often very untraditional) works using traditional media such as clay, stone, wood, and metals, others are exploring newer media including plastics, video, and computer software. Since physical characteristics associated with each medium influence how the sculptor can work with it and what kinds of forms can be made, knowledge of materials is fundamentally important for the creation of sculpture. And because the choice of technique can produce both possibilities and problems for the sculptor, technique has always been a major issue in the field. In this course, basic forming methods – modeling, addition, subtraction, and substitution – and a variety of media will be employed to create solutions to a number of sculptural problems.
Sculpture, if successful, encourages viewer participation, and a major challenge for the artist is to draw viewers into his/her work. Therefore, the problems presented in this course will also deal with strategies for engaging viewers: development of strong content, consideration of scale, enhancement of forms' surfaces, investigation of the uses of realism, stylization, and/or abstraction, and meanings conveyed by color.
Examination of historical and contemporary works and critiques of student works-in-progress will help to develop a visual and technical vocabulary as well as an attitude towards creative problems which can be applied to future work in this and other fields.
4 Credits. AH – 1. Taught in Fall Term.