Thursday 25 August 2011

Ecorche Bronze Sculpture Part 2

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella
 This post ,I'm showing  another ecorche' bronze figure,this time a male version.  For those who are not familiar with the genre,ecorche'( flayed human) depictions were extremely popular in the 18th and 19th centuries and many versions exist both in 2D and 3D. Despite their original didactic intent they later came to be appreciated as works of art in their own right.
The bronze presented in this post was originally modeled in wax in 2002. I had never before attempted an ecorche' figure and thought it might be a good technical exercise. I had sculpted figures for years but never felt the need or interest before in doing this type of model making. But around January 2002, I started playing  with the idea because it was something I'd never attempted before and it was a new challenge.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella
Image copyright  Art  Di Lella
Image copyright  Art  Di Lella
I started  working out the pose and then proceeded to look for as much information on the subject as possible. I looked at various books on anatomy both medical as well as artistic and examined several medical models too. Finally, I made an arrangement to visit Grant's Museum (display of human anatomical specimens) at the University of Toronto to complete my research. The whole sculpting process including the research took over two years. The bronze cast was later produced in 2006 and exhibited in 2007 at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition.
Next post ,I'm hoping to have some updates on current projects in the studio.  Till then have a great weekend.

3 comments:

  1. i don't think i've ever seen the face quite so close before, nor did i realize it's been 10 years!

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  2. Wow, that's quite fascinating. It's a little eerie in some ways, but it's also quite captivating to look at. You made that sculpture, right? That must have taken a ton of work, so kudos to ya!

    -Lawrence Halter

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  3. Thanks, Yes,I did make this sculpture and it definitely was a lot of work. I'm glad you like it.

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