Study in White Post #4 White Has Arrived

All  images shown are Copyright  Art  Di Lella

Here are the images of this fired  anatomical porcelain sculpture. Surprisingly, few defects. Beginners luck!
Anyways, I have an idea for this piece that I hope will complete this sculpture. We'll see what's next.

Bronze Whales

Several years ago, I was experimenting with wax and foam in the construction of my models. One of the difficulties with working with wax is that it's not easy to build up your masses quickly.  So I tried carving styrofoam into a basic shape and then applied modelling wax on top.  The whales were the first to be tried in this manner and I thought the results at the time were successful. After the models were completed,they were moulded and cast into bronze.  When I picked up the bronze whale castings from the foundry, I started to work on them,sanding and finishing. But shortly, thereafter I stopped working on them.

Some years later, friends of ours John and Arounna of  bookhou  came by to visit us in the summer of last year. Arounna had noticed the three unfinished bronze whales lying on my studio floor and asked me if  I was interested in selling them. I agreed to finish them which my partner Barbara of  sparrowavenue.blogspot.com beautifully photograghed the finishing and patina process back in the fall of last year.

Images shown are Copyright Art  Di Lella

Afterwards, the whales were put on display in bookhou and the Beluga(the smallest) sold.  At this time,the other two whales are still at John and Arounna's shop.  Thank you to Barbara,Arounna and John for their help and encouragement.

Reconstructed Bust in Silicone

The individual shown is a another example of my reconstruction series of busts.  I started this bust in January 2010  and completed the modeling 6 weeks later.  This particular model is at the most advanced stage of any so far.

The piece was cast in silicone with pigment,hair and other materials. This sculpture like the others was first modeled in clay over a real human skull with the neck and shoulders added.

 

clay model                                                                          

  Then after the model was completed, a mould was constructed and afterward removed from the original.    Pigmented silicone was then applied inside the mould with a rigid backing.

Images shown   Copyright  Art  Di Lella

After the curing process,the mould was stripped off the cast and then the finishing of the sculpture was completed sometime later.

 The choice to use silicone was more about weighing options.  After experimenting with other materials, I decided to go with silicone because the result it provided was much more compelling than materials such as wax or plaster.
As I mentioned in a earlier post, I'm leaning towards an installation format right at the moment. Till then,  I'm looking forward to the next step.

The Body vs The Figure

La Specola    Firenze Italia 18th century

Artist :  Kiki  Smith   1992    Virgin Mary    

Artist :  Kiki Smith   1992   Meat Head#1

 

I just wanted to show some examples of sculpture that is inspired by the body and not the figure. After posting on my own work, I wanted to show some of the images that have had an  influence on my own recent sculpture.
The picture at the top is from an anatomy museum in Florence. These beautifully sculpted waxes were used for teaching anatomy to medical students in the 18th and 19th centuries. These wax sculptures and other anatomical models like them were used as reference materials for not only medical students but  figurative artists as well.
It wasn't until the early nineties, I started noticing artists such as Kiki Smith were using the visual language of anatomy to discuss more contemporary issues and veering away from the more traditional aesthetic concerns of figurative art.  For me, it opened up a very important and unique view on the subject of the figure.

Sculpture Reconstruction

Over the past few years, I have been playing around with constructing faces over natural or cast human skulls.
I have many years of experience  sculpting  figures but have never seriously tried to model over an actual human skull.

I suspect,my main concern is it would be too restrictive and what really would be the purpose of such an enterprise.  I thought it might be possible to arrive at unique looking face but in the back of my mind,I was concerned that it would end up looking generic.
This particular specimen,that I was considering has a long narrow face with an exceptional length to the cranium(185mm) and a long projecting nose. I thought it would be sensible to consult texts on forensic facial reconstruction during the project.
The images  shown are the earliest stages as well as the finished piece..

Images shown are Copyright Art  Di Lella 2011

 The buildup of the face was very gradual as I wanted the skull to have as much "input" as possible. There were many revisions throughout the entire process but unfortunately, I didn't record them. Next time.

The finished work does have a unique face but I'm still unclear as to what this bust is actually about.  I have  made over the past year four different reconstructions but none of them work as stand alone sculptures. These pieces seem to be leaning towards an installation format. I not sure what the next move is other than to press on and make more.

Study in White Post #3

Here are the images of the completed model .
If this model survives the firing, I  will need to augment this piece in some way as mentioned in the previous post. At this point, I'm not certain which direction this work will go but I suspect the results of the firing will likely indicate the direction. I have time to think about it.

Study in White - Post #2

Here are some recent images of my first attempt in porcelain. There has been more refinement of detail areas such as teeth and neck musculature. Final texture is almost complete. So far working in porcelain hasn't been too difficult. We'll see how good my hand building technique is after the firing.                                                

.This object, if it survives firing , is for me so far an incomplete idea. Many of my works start out as a technical exercise much like this model. After a time , I begin to play with different aspects of the work.
 I find adding  humorous or ironic content to a model like this might work. We'll see. 

Study in White

 This is my first attempt in porcelain. I always had misgivings about trying this material especially hand building.


I have experience with terra cotta and stoneware  but those clay bodies generally have better plasicity and are easier to work with.


So far, the process has gone pretty well. I thought the subject matter was  suitable and would present an interesting challenge.

 These images are more of the mid point of the process.
We'll see how this comes out.
I 'll post more pictures soon.

Welcome to my art journal

This is new for me. 

I started this blog as a way of not only showcasing my own work online but also to explore the works of other sculptors. 

My approach will be more process based. This is not going to be a "How To" site but rather an examination of  methodologies and strategies employed by other artists as well as myself. 

I welcome comments and questions from other visual artists and those who are just curious about sculpture.