WHY ARE MY SCULPTURES DIFFERENT?
The traditional way of making a human figure sculpture is to sculpt with a very soft material such as clay or wax. These are pliable materials which are easily worked with a blade or even fingers. A mold is created from the soft material, then filled with molten metal (typically bronze ) to create a final solid metal sculpture.
However, my sculptures start as a flat sheet of steel. I use hammers and an anvil to shape a 2-dimensional steel sheet into a 3-dimensional sculpture. In photographs, my sculptures may appear solid, but this is only an illusion.
HOW ARE MY SCULPTURES MADE?
Black and white photo sessions with a live model are an integral part of my process. During these sessions, the “idea” of the sculpture truly develops. Frequently the idea I start with will change drastically once the model steps in front of the camera. The design of each sculpture is a collaborative process between the model and me. The sessions also provide essential reference photos so that the final sculptures emerge as life-like as possible.
Each sculpture begins with a flat square sheet of steel and a pattern. The patterns are basic–a simple silhouette of the human figure with a few marks to denote proportions and reference points on the body. Once the pattern is drawn on the steel, it is ready to be hammered on my great-uncle’s anvil. Specific hammers are designated for each stage, detail and shape of the sculpture. The hammers come in many shapes. Square. Round. Pointed. Broad. Very Heavy. Very light. The hammer falls again and again on the steel sheet, shaping it and moving into whatever shape is needed. The metal is worked cold throughout the entire process. Finally, a torch flame is held to the steel to give an even blue patina to the finished piece. The entire sculpting process averages around 50 hours, regardless of the size of the piece.
Stages of Atalanta:
Stages of Freyja:
No forms are used to make the sculptures. Each sculpture is cold forged with hammer on an anvil.
Below is a short video as I sculpted Leto. You will see the entire sculpting process from start to finish. For this sculpture, the overall process took approximately 15 hours (sped up to short 5 minute sequence for your convenience).