Sculpture process

Space is the Place

Reflections on Meditation and Sculpture Process

Recently, my meditation practice expanded into my clay studio. There was a spontaneous notion to stop all action, pause every agenda, and sit in the middle of the floor. It was almost surprising how easy it was to do in that fairly busy place. There are hundreds of ceramic figures, raw and expressionistic, in some stage of aspirational metamorphosis. I had somehow discovered that sculpture process in the middle of all those pleading eyes, shouting color and texture, there is a serene place to sit in stillness.

A few months ago during Julian Voss-Andreae’s PNWS Zoom presentation, he mentioned the practice of meditation as an inspiration for art. Very quickly several people responded, a brief but energetic discussion about the challenges of regular meditation practice. This stood out to me: sculptors are into meditation. But it also made sense: I’m a sculptor and I’m into meditation as it’s essential to my sculpture process.

Meditation and Sculpture Process is Different For Every Artist

My meditation practice has found its own organic way over the decades. I took up Transcendental Meditation in High School, studied Buddhist forms in my college years, did the silent retreat in Thailand, and studied chakra theory. All of this has come together into a uniquely personal practice of wordless, keen observation, and intuition. I go where I need to go.

My art practice developed separately in parallel, but included creating objects and images of contemplation as well as performance art that has gravitated toward experiences that defy plain description: ecstasy, awe and improvisation. Conditioning myself before one of my live improvisational performances almost always includes meditation. I haven’t applied this rule to sculpting, probably because it’s already there. Meditation is already within sculpting and sculpting is within my meditation.

At that meeting, Julian also referred to the sculpture of Sir Antony Gormley as being inspired by meditation. There is a distinct similarity between these two artists: figures that reflect inward and seamlessly integrate with landscape, figures of dense materials that also dissolve into space. There is a simplicity and ease within these sculptures, but also a challenge. The center is always implied but never pinned down. I believe that we can never completely know what we are, but striving improves us, makes us more whole, and integrates us with others and the world. We will be endlessly looking and sharing what we see.

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Spatial Relations: Seeing 3D Form in the Void

Humans have a natural ability to see and recognize things. You see something and your brain immediately matches the image to a pattern you’ve seen before. You recognize the object. It’s 3D form. Comprehension is complete. Congratulations. You’ve recognized the object and completely missed the space – the invisible element of the image.

Space is only invisible until you see it. Once seen, it cannot be unseen. The void becomes a thing. It’s real. It’s tangible. It adds another level of comprehension to your experience of the object.

Chas Martin - 3D Form - ambiguity - July 2020 - PNWS

In this 2-dimensional example, the positive and negative spaces are flat. Aristotelian binary logic recognizes two options: white and non-white. Everything that is not positive is summarized as negative. There is form and non-form (aka space). That logic is fine if you’re trying to win an argument. In a 3-dimensional world, it’s a bit more complicated.

Think about the musical equivalent of this argument. There are notes and non-notes. All notes are part of the melody. Everything else is collectively defined as a “rest.” There is much more to music than notes and not notes. Imagine Beethoven’s 9th Symphony without the voids between notes. It would be a continuous stream of occasional repetitions with no punctuation, no cadence, no impact. The rest between notes provides valuable space to comprehend what you just heard, to anticipate what you will hear next, and the opportunity to appreciate the uniqueness of the moment. The frequency and duration of the rests are as important as the notes they separate. Many different notes create a melody. There are many different shapes and sizes to the voids.

Sculpture is a Melody of 3D Form Contained by Spaces.

The voids help you comprehend what you have seen, anticipate what you will see next and the opportunity to appreciate the uniqueness of the moment. Space itself has form. It has as much shape and dimension as the sculpture it surrounds. And, like the sculpture, the space changes shape from each new viewing angle. This void creates an invisible series of forms – a progression of connected experiences that supports and illuminates the visible form. Your attention moves from one space to another in a continuous dance of interest, visual stimulation, a sequence of discoveries.

Shifting your focus to give space the same amount of consideration as the form is a challenge. I recently gave a student the following exercise to help open his eyes. First I had him create an abstract form in clay and place it inside a container. Then I had him fill the container with plaster. When that was cured, I told him to remove the clay and observe the plaster form that remained. Form and space were reversed. The plaster turned invisible space into a tangible form. Once seen, space cannot be unseen. For a sculptor, seeing space as a solid form is a revelation worth pursuing.

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Art Play Day at Murphy Sculpture Studio

I’ve wanted to do this since Carole first asked me to announce it. I finally made the third iteration and was not disappointed. What a hoot. Here’s the idea. On certain Wednesdays, (to be announced to members) Carole Murphy opens her sculpture studio and her immense collection of oddities for members to use as they see fit.

Now I just stuffed my collection of “I may want to make something out of this someday” items in a 10’ x 20’ storage unit. Compared to Carole’s collection that is puny and I am filled with shame. That is to say, there is a rich collection of materials and media available at Carole’s sculpture studio. There is a wall of chisels, beaver chunks, shiny doodads, and feathery bits from some creature that died in the sea. There is fodder here, workbenches, and tools. If like me you toil in a studio alone, with little heat, and poor light, rats nibbling at your heals, a visit here would be a welcome relief.

Art Play Day at Murphy Sculpture Studio - small sculpture - Jan 2020

Art Play Day at Murphy Sculpture Studio - wood pieces - Jan 2020

Sculpture Studio or Candy Land…

Right off I found most of some wooden puppet thing that had suffered decapitation. Carole offered the head of the temple lion dog which I obtained by means of a cement saw. I spent the session carving down the neck so it would fit in the body of the puppet thing. I was successful in this. Not only that but it no longer looks like a lion dog but more like a pig and I’m not done yet. I don’t know where this is going. I don’t know what’s in that chunk of head cement. All I know is that I hope it’s worthy.

Art Play Day at Murphy Sculpture Studio - George Heath - Jan 2020

Joe Cartino appeared. Being a sculptor of put-together bits I am not surprised that he would be drawn to such a place. Here he examines some artifact to determine if it could be art or he should put it down quickly, back away, and go wash his hands.

Art Play Day at Murphy Sculpture Studio - Joe Cartino - Jan 2020

What are these? you may ask. These are the things that beavers chuck out of trees. The inedible bits they spit out as they take down your price Japanese maple. Wouldn’t it be fun to make a beaver out of those?

Here’s a box of letter stamps. Old school letter stamps. It goes on and on. Shiny and matt, plastic, metal, wood and shell, antique and newish. It is a thing of mine. If I miss my hoard I can go here and feel at home. Watch for announcements. This is a fun thing and a chance to collaborate or just show what you’ve made to another sculptor who will understand and not think you are weird because of it. Then again…

Here are some of the thousands of things available:

Art Play Day at Murphy Sculpture Studio - letters - Jan 2020

Art Play Day at Murphy Sculpture Studio - metal pieces - Jan 2020

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Sculpture Process: The Green Man from Sketch to Finished Sculpture

As a gardener, I’ve been cultivating plants for 60 years. As a sculptor, I’ve been researching the Green Man in books, museums, and churches. A current project which employs the sculpture process combines these interests into designs for a bronze fountain featuring the Green Man.

My drawings confirmed an idea I’ve had that sculpture comes down to bumps and divots. Regardless of the subject, abstract or figurative, good sculpture bounces light and creates shadows with its forms and surfaces. I didn’t need to draw eyes, I could imply them in shadowed recesses. Forehead and nose and chin, cheekbones could be suggested by bright surfaces in the proper proportions.

Finding Inspiration in the Sculpture Process

Many of the drawings were unintentionally creepy. Ambiguity has always been an aspect of the Green Man. Medieval sculptures depict him with branches and leaves coming out of his mouth. Is he exhaling green or choking on it. Is wildness threatening or benign? Genetic engineering adds another layer of ambiguity. What would a human/ plant cross look like? How would new green beings relate to us, and we them?

I was also inspired by the science fiction book The Wind Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. It’s a story of a not too distant future mix of human and genetically modified beings and plants coping with a constantly changing environment.

I’m working on the carving now and will share soon. For now, here are some of my drawings.

Patrick-Gracewood-June-2019-Green-Man - Process-1

Patrick-Gracewood-June-2019-Green-Man-Process-2

Note: Patrick has been awarded a grant to participate in Inami International Sculpture Camp in Nanto City, Japan.

See Patrick’s small carving video

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“I am Leading this from What I Need as a Sculptor.”

Patrick Gracewood interviews sculptor, Alisa Looney

PG. I’m curious about artists who combine different disciplines. We share a love of drawing, dance, and sculpture. I’d like to talk about process. When we are focused on “Making ART” it is easy to ignore our body’s needs. How do you care for your spirit’s needs as a sculptor? Ignoring that aspect is problematic if we want to create art that communicates spirit instead of just manufacturing a skillful commodity.

AL. Many of the stretches and exercises that I do are essential for my body to function and to do physical work. Movement is key to keep my body mind and spirit all working properly. If I don’t move, I am literally in pain, my mind is not happy and my spirit feels stuck and I can’t draw well. Also, the computer is the hardest on my neck so I tend to avoid working on it.

How A Sculptor Translates Movement Into Form

I am still very drawn to depicting movement, yet not as much directly to the image of the dancer(s) as I was before. I have always been held captive by the energy of the body, and how it is the same energy as the river, the flow of life, the power of it, a strength of the body, the balance, the completeness of one human expression. My consciousness is expanded to the broader recognition of the web of life. How I can best depict our deep connection to nature and to each other?

One recent piece was inspired by the vision of humans breathing with the trees. We support the trees with our out-breath, and they support us with their oxygen. This was largely inspired by Treesister’s meditations which include gentle movement, and focuses on the deep connection to nature and trees. I am exploring how we co-exist with nature, how we can support the healing of our world and each other. This is primary to me now.

Currently I’m making an enamel on steel spirit mask. It depicts the rich layer of soil and fungus deep in the roots of the trees. Trees and fungus support each other with life giving properties. The roots take the shape of a human face, and the piece is titled: Rooting Tree Spirit.

I have had many, many years of movement – explored through dance and then brought that energy into drawings and paintings. Over the years that has developed what I call Sketch in Motion. I enjoy teaching this process.

Dance of a Sculptor

As a dancer, the movement I am longing to do is largely outside, along the river, under the trees. I have decided to start a movement class near our home and studio called: “Move with ease in the trees.” It is my hope that this brings movers to me that also feel this calling to move and to connect with the trees and nature. I will keep it gentle and improvisational, for any age, and will provide art supplies to allow whatever self-expression or inspiration to come out. Afterward, we warm ourselves up indoors and gradually take it outdoors as the movers feel comfortable to do so. I am leading this from what I need as an artist.

PG. Thank you, Alisa. I love the idea of leading from what you need. An artist doesn’t just make a product but is someone who integrates the different interests of life as a creative process.

Watch Alisa’s process video to see her combination of creative processes. https://alisalooney.com/about/process-video/

To learn more about Patrick’s work, Pacific Northwest Sculptors, and contact us today!

Dance with Me: Sculpture, Dance and Creative Collaboration

My comment, “Sculpture and dance are closely related, much like a creative collaboration” had left some people puzzled at a recent Pacific Northwest Sculptors member meeting. I see dance and sculpture as a continuum of movement and stillness, the ephemeral to the eternal. Almost everything we know of early civilizations comes from sculpture. Indeed, if some form of physical artistic expression can last thousands of years, it’s likely sculpture. Additionally, an installation can encompass the ephemeral, everything from gallery installation to Andy Goldworthy’s nature work.

I’ve been a sculptor for forty-three years, and celebrate thirty years of dancing contact improvisation in 2019. Often what I learn from one discipline transfers to the other. Dance requires that I show up several times a week, fully present, emotionally, and physically. I have discovered this has been a good method for making art. Moving mindfully became my physical therapy, an antidote to the exertion and repetitive motion of carving. That kind of awareness gradually shifted my focus from the object to the space surrounding it.

The Creative Collaboration of Sculpture and Space

That awareness has helped me site my sculpture in clients’ gardens. Conversely, many sculptors believe their collaboration is completed when the art is finished and sold. If you have sited your work outside, you know what happens. It shrinks radically as it contends with the chaos of the rest of the world. Siting sculpture requires shifting focus from the art object to creating an environment that includes art. Blocking some views, framing other sightlines, defining a clear approach, you choreograph how people move through space to better appreciate the art and the entire space it occupies.

My concept of what sculpture is got much larger.

My early artworks often appeared overly polished and careful. There’s a valuable skill in banging out “working-class sculpture” aka stage sets and props for performances. Cardboard is free and quickly fabricated. In fact, I have never made cardboard models for my own sculpture before I started dancing. Now I make them all the time. These models I create act as a physical embodiment of an idea. Indeed, the model serves as a visual placeholder that haunts me until I have time to make it in a permanent medium. Working in a throw-away material encouraged me to work fast, go for big shapes, deep shadows, and lots of bright colors. The results are often very engaging on their own. I now make damn sure that same fun and energy make it into all my sculpture. The question I pose to other PNWS members is, “What enriches your creative practice?”

Creative collaborations with famous sculptor and dancer pairings: Isamu Noguchi and Martha Graham; Robert Rauschenberg and dancers Paul Taylor; Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown; Robert Morris and Simone Forti.

To learn more about Patrick’s work, Pacific Northwest Sculptors, and contact us today!

Art Inspiration – My Oracle…The Ocean

A lot of my work draws heavily on ocean waveforms for art inspiration. I’ve spent many happy hours sitting on beaches all along the west coast from San Diego, California to Long Beach, Washington just watching and letting the power soak into my bones.

I call this visiting my Oracle….I ask questions and (usually) I get a few answers.

There is nothing better for resetting your sense of self than watching several tons of water crash against the rocks …again and again…relentlessly. The rocks hardly notice, but over the years, the water will win. In search of art inspiration, I discovered when I went back to visit a favorite beach I found the sea had rearranged objects in my absence.

Where Medium Meets Art Inspiration

My sculpture medium is paper clay. It has high water content and I can slam a slab of it against a “rock” that I set up in my studio. The effect is very much like what I observe at the beach. I manipulate these slabs to support human figures. I follow this sculpting method for a while like a person in a fever. But, after several new pieces, the fever will leave me and I step away from the ocean waves for a time. I now know that at some point I will have to return to the sea for information about my life and my art. (Aren’t they one and the same?). My Oracle will always be there.

To learn more about Michele’s work or Pacific Northwest Sculptors, contact us today!

Frogwood Collaborations: Sculptors share techniques and perspectives

6 days and 6 nights filled with making art with 38 other artists… what could be better? We usually were at work by 7:30 am and continued sometimes to 11:30 and later. It was amazing to see people simply drop their egos within a couple of days and simply play with one another, creating art. There were no rules such as- how much was to be made, how to make it, how to connect with others, how many to work on a piece, how to warm up or any other rules that you could think up. We were simply there with tools and art supplies that we brought and a ton of tools and art supplies that were already there. Some had been there before, some had not, most were accomplished artists in their fields and all were ready to play. The word that comes to mind first in trying to describe it to people is – profound. It made me call to a deeper part of me and simply create more freely.

Included in the array of makers were wood turners, welders, a blacksmith, coppersmiths, jewelers, sculptors, weavers and even a couple of people that made instruments. This next year the plan is to invite even more folks. A few people traveled home each night but most stayed in tents and cabins around a place called Camp Colton in Colton, Oregon, about an hour SE of Portland. The affair is catered with amazing food and I bunked with the most wonderful people. You’d think that 3 women in a tiny cabin room would be a problem, especially with the bathroom outside in another part of the building. Nope, it was really enjoyable talking excitedly about our day when we did bump into each other there.

Below is one of the pieces that I collaborated on – I made the stand and the boat and all of the pieces including the sail are made by 9 other artists.

Frogwood