Carving and Modelling – Question 5
You call your works sculpture but they are clearly modelled, should they not be called models?
Two roads exist leading to the same goal. Brancusi took the sculptural one when he carved directly into the material. Rodin on the other hand modelled his works leaving the stone carving or casting to craftsmen. In both cases an object was produced, the manner of its coming into being was different but the outcome was the same in many respects. I sometimes refer to my objects as models and at other times sculptures. The former refers to their mode of construction and the later to the way of thinking. Both direct carving and modelling are archetypal modes of expression. It is hard for me to think which is more fundamental, indeed which comes first in the evolution of culture. Mud, wood and stone. In my case practicality leads me to use the material that most readily lends itself to what I am thinking in terms of the object.