Mitoraj Sculpture in Pietrasanta

Dear Art Lover,

     In my search for a permanent studio and also a home, I have been back to Pietrasanta, Italy, “land of the stone carvers.”  Sadly, I found a couple of studios that I liked, but I still have yet to find a home.  It has been hard to commit to one without having the other since my art and my life are so closely connected.

      In any event, my more recent visit to Pietrasanta gave me a surprise:  Many works by the recently late Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj (March 26, 1944 – October 6, 2014) grace the Piazza del Duomo in Pietrasanta!  I like his work, the way over life-size big bronze sculpture being impressive in and of itself, but sometimes I find myself leaving a bit depressed.  His figures are idealized, or perhaps imitations of idealized figures, such as were made by the Greeks.  They are beautiful and no doubt well made, but I am not sure of which emotion he hopes to elicit from me.

     Walking amongst the larger-than-life figures (as was the great experience in the main piazza of Pietrasanta) tends to make me feel small, as if I am nothing meandering in a sea of a dead ancient civilization.  These are all relics and I find myself feeling a sense of loss, but I am not sure of what?  But I also find myself a bit curious:  Who were they?  Why do they find themselves in pieces and lying around, seemingly unwanted?  Why does Mitoraj like the squares, some empty, others, as show here, with a face inside.  I can think of many interpretations, as I am sure that you can.  So, the art works in the end because it does help us ponder, and each viewer takes from it what he wishes.

  

     That said, this cracking clay series intrigues me.  I tend to like the beauty in destruction at whatever speed.  I have taken some close-up shots so that you may see his mark-making in the clay, the armature (supporting framework, in this case, metal), and how the sun is drying out this clay and causing it to give Mitoraj’s signature cracking.  His work “Passo Segreto” is shown here.

     I find this process fascinating.  I would like to know more about it actually.  Not only because the artist Mitoraj died last October and thus, I wonder if these creations are done by others, but to his specs, or even whether this is not actually clay that is drying out in the piazza, but is in fact, BRONZES made to look like cracking clay.  But I suspect the former. 

     Mud tends to crack in patterns.  Fractals are the mathematical term for the lines/designs of these shapes.  You may see some of the dramatic patterns here.  I am curious how much is totally natural and how much is altered by the armature underneath.  I also took a shot of the underside so that you may see this armature.  I saw Mitoraj’s work in several other places and he occasionally makes a sculpture that seems intended to be displayed against a wall.  Or, he enjoys showing “his undies.”

     This exhibition titled “Mito e Musica” [Myth and Music] in Pietrasanta continues through 30 August.

Peace,

Kelly

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher

http://BorsheimArts.com

Cracking Clay (sculpture detail)

close-up of eye & socket Mitoraj sculpture

Metal armature on the back/inside of the giant face sculpture

Eric Bronze and Granite

Hello everyone!  I just wanted to thank you again for your early support and a couple of you who have even increased your pledges, as well as sharing my posts on Facebook with your friends and followers.

I have just added a new reward, Eric… and he is one of my favorites and a great model to work with. 

Eric: 10" h x 11" w x 8" d, bronze with granite base  

We still have a lot to do to meet the goal… remember with Kickstarter it is all or nothing and I really want to get these waxes cast before I lose them to the Texas heat! 

Here is where we are … every pledge helps momentum.  You know that lots of folks will bid once the goal looks achievable. . you have helped that off to a good start. 

• $3,695 pledged
• 32% funded
• 22 backers
• 5 days to go

Ends the midnight between 1 and 2 April, Texas time.  Thank you,

Kelly

Lost Wax Bronze Casting

I received a wonderful gift this month. A new collector with a vision and trust is helping me to realize one of my most personal artworks in bronze. I first created “Against the Dying of the Light” in 2001. I originally sculpted most of the clay in a week in my Texas studio and then later added the large hands at night at my site at the MARBLE/marble Symposium in Colorado. After I returned to Texas that summer, I hired several different models to assist me in getting details such as the veins in the arms and, as I told one model Todd, “quads like diamonds.”

For various reasons, this sculpture was put on hold and finally finished in 2005. Then in August 2007, a mold was made. While I had received wonderful comments and several inquiries about this sculpture, it was only while I was in Italy this past fall, that a serious collector contacted me. So my foundry created the wax from my mold in time for me to arrive back in Texas and work the waxes that will later become bronze.

For those unfamiliar with the bronze casting process, most bronzes are created hollow, like a chocolate bunny. Smaller pieces can be cast solid, but if very thick, that is not practical. Not only because of the ever-increasing price of the metal, but mostly because of the chemistry of cooling molten metal. Bronze is poured into a mold when it is around 2000 degrees hot – after the metal has become a beautiful liquid. Thin sections cool faster than thick sections, and this unevenness, if you will, causes problems in “shrinkage.”

In the case of “Against the Dying of the Light,” the arms will be cast separately, and solid. The upper body will be cast hollow, but as its own piece. And the hips and legs of the figure will be cast as one hollow piece with the large hands. After the sculpture has been cast into bronze, the parts will be welded together and then “chased,” resculpting details in the metal where all the connected parts require it. Then I will add the patina and carve the stone base.

Here you see my original work in plastilina (an oil-based clay) and later the wax pieces that my foundry poured from the mold that was made from the plastilina original. I am spending this week “chasing the wax” or removing mold lines, bubbles or holes in the wax, and checking that every detail is true to my original idea. The first step I do is examine the wax and thicken thin parts. My goal is to have a wax of consistent thickness, to minimize the effects of bronze shrinkage after the pour. It is difficult to pour a hollow figure, and often (internally) protruding parts (receding parts in the outer surface) must be reinforced from the inside. (One image shows how transparent the wax looks in the crotch area of the figure. I can clearly see where the wax is too thin.)

I will finish these waxes and return them to the bronze casting foundry before I return to Italia soon. I cannot wait to see “Against the Dying of the Light” in bronze!