Push/Pull sculpture

Goals:

• Learn about sculptors who work to define space

• Work with clay to create a non-representational sculptural form that utilizes positive and negative space to make it interesting from all sides.

Artists studied:

Barbara Hepworth, Ruth Asawa, Henry Moore, Jean Arp, Mark di Suvero

Reflection:

I found it was very vital to make sure all parts of the sculpture were around the same thickness, and I ended up having to add some extra piercings to my sculpture when some areas got too thin. I would also recommend keeping any “folds” in the sculpture open, because it made it hard to burnish and wax some parts of the sculpture. 

My sculpture has many ways to rest, so it encourages one to turn it. No side is similar to another, because of the different protuberances and piercing forms, so that also adds to the intriguing aspects in it. I think that the outstretching areas of protuberance make it more interesting and unique as well, and make me want to look at them from different angles. 

Compared to the clay, alabaster is much harder to mold and move because it is solid, whereas the stoneware clay is moldable, and I didn’t have to use any tools for sculpting it. I had to do a lot of work on both to smooth the surfaces, and both needed waxing in the end. Only the alabaster needed to be oiled, but to give the clay the same shininess, I burnished the surface with part of a plastic bag.