What is a sculpture?

A sculpture is a three dimensional form of artistic expression. Three fundamental approaches exist to envision the creation of a three dimensional piece of art, modeling, size and assembly. Traditionally the materials used are of mineral origin usually consisting of stone (marble, granite, jade), argyle (porcelain, terra coat, clay) but can also include metals (bronze, aluminum, steel) or even animal matter (ivory, wood, food). Modern and contemporary sculpture can also include textile, glass, sand, ice, water, liquid crystals and any object created or found in nature by man. Scrap yard metal sculptures have gotten especially popular in the last few years as “Metal Art”, depicting various objects from science fiction characters to a multitude of machines and even selected human and animal life forms.

Sculptures can remain “nude” or can be painted; varnished or finished, rusting and oxidation can also become the “natural finish” that a sculpture can acquire over the course of multiple years or decades of exposure to the natural elements.

Sculptures can be created in various ways, but modeling, assembling, molding and chiseling are still the main methods used today.

The modeling method consists in adding or removing matter around one or multiple sides of the object that will eventually become the “soul” of the piece. The modeling techniques applies to materials that are labeled as “plastic”, in other words, objects that are susceptible to be molded and formed with minimal force ( argyle, wax, plaster, play dough). At any time during the creation process, matter can be added, removed or molded. The flexibility and malleability of the material gives the sculptor real time artistic freedom and allows him to improvise as he goes along.

Assembling consists of putting together various objects to create a form either abstract or concrete. The sculpture should remain static in its final form. In that respect for example, a plastic plane model glued together could be labeled as a sculpture, Lego on the other hand that is assembled only temporarily would be called a model and not a sculpture.

Molding can be used for both hard and soft sculpting materials. Paper macher and plaster sculptures are classic examples of soft molding creations. For hard materials, metals are often melted and then injected into the mold, although the mold is usually created via the chiseling method, the end product results from the molding process.

Chiseling is the heart of the sculpting art form. Taking an object and selectively taking matter away until a completer metamorphosis of the piece can be achieved. Hard and semi soft materials are ideal for this type of art. It is one of the most time consuming kinds of sculpture and some pieces can take months, years or even decades to complete.

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