These days galleries seem to have a predisposition toward showing representational sculpture rather than realistic sculpture. Most of my artwork in both doll and metal has been realistic in style. In order to explore a career as a sculptor in the fine art world I needed to see if I could transfer my talents to a style that most galleries would appreciate more. Thus I have spent the last year exploring my talents with the simplified form.

It has been my belief that if a sculptor has the skills to sculpt the figure in the classic sense; simplifying the form in a more representational style would not be all that difficult. I found that to be true in my case. Perhaps others don’t find it so easy. To me it was like going backward and just using one of my talents … recognizing shape.

Birth was the first sculpture I ever sculpted in Styrofoam. It was an interesting experiment and I came to understand the benefits of such a medium. It is difficult to give a sculpture in Styrofoam any great detail so it keeps a detail artist like me on track for sculpting a simplified shape. I also decided to explore another investment technique with this piece. I covered the piece in resin bonded sand and poured the metal directly into the Styrofoam. It is a faster technique than the lost wax method I usually use.

Birth is the simplest form I have done so far. You can still see it is a human form but it is sculpted in simplified shapes. I think of the body and things of nature in terms of rounded shapes not angular ones. There are very few straight lines in nature. My Birth piece is no exception. I used rounded shapes.

Although it is a simple form I wanted the piece to have several meanings. There is a hole in the top of the head; representing the birth of an idea. The bottom of the piece is spread; representing the birth of a child. There is a circle around the head to give the piece a Madonna feeling. The birth of an idea or of a child has divine implications I think.

I experimented with a new patina process with this piece, too. I did what is called a “wrap patina.” Individual cloth strips were dipped in several different chemicals and then wrapped around the piece. The piece was then wrapped tightly in tin foil to keep the cloth in place. It was then wrapped in plastic wrap to keep the chemicals damp and then covered with masking tape. It was left like that for 5 days. Then the piece is unwrapped. As a result of the process pieces of the tin foil and fabric become part of the texture; giving the patina three-dimension. This is a delicate patina. Pieces can break off if mishandled. To help insure longevity, I sprayed it with several coats of a good, flat acrylic sealer.

I enjoyed stretching and learning new techniques with this piece. I enjoyed the freedom of doing a simplified form. It came much easier than my usual painstaking, detailed work. I love the texture of the wrap patina. My vision of the piece before I started it has been achieved I think. I wanted it to look like an ancient artifact some archeologist could have recovered from the sea or discovered deep in forest underbrush somewhere.