RELIEF SCULPTURE
RELIEFS IN CLAY
Six wood-fired ceramic reliefs.
I made these pieces in Mendocino in a ceramic workshop around 1980, in the additive manner I used earlier in the metal cast pieces and in some of the early clay constructions. Except that these were reliefs instead of freestanding pieces.
Three earlier freestanding sculptures.
My basic process was improvisation. Though I made all of the little clay components or segments, I had no preconceived overall shape or structure in mind as I had with the works for the Newman show. And since these were to be reliefs, I did not have to consider how they would stand up on their own.
As with my mosaics, I combined smaller and larger pieces, but since they had no color variation, only the shapes and their organization mattered. Unlike in classical relief sculpture, I built most of these pieces without a backing ground.
As with my mosaics, I combined smaller and larger pieces, but since they had no color variation, only the shapes and their organization mattered. Unlike in classical relief sculpture, I built most of these pieces without a backing ground.
DISKS
Six ceramic variations based on a disc shape, each c. 3" diameter.
In these wood-fired colors they look like cookies, or perhaps like primitive amulets.
In these wood-fired colors they look like cookies, or perhaps like primitive amulets.
Round clay relief 5 ½" diameter (3 views)
Ceramic relief 6 ½" x 12
½"
Two small ceramic reliefs
6 ½" x 3" and 3 ½" x 3 ½"
6 ½" x 3" and 3 ½" x 3 ½"
RELIEFS IN FOIL
FACES
I had once made a mask of my own face using aluminum foil and cast it in plaster. I liked the chance pattern of the crinkled surface, and kept the piece.
I had once made a mask of my own face using aluminum foil and cast it in plaster. I liked the chance pattern of the crinkled surface, and kept the piece.
My face formed by aluminum foil and cast in plaster. 8 ¾" high (3 views)
Years later I made another mask with aluminum foil, this time shaping it not on an object (my face) but free hand, and cast it in plaster. As with many of my works, it was preceded by notes and drawings.
Freely shaped aluminum foil mask cast in plaster 8 ½“ high
DISKS RELIEFS
For some reason I have an attraction to round and circular forms. I have used circle formats in my mosaic designs and in my drawings, as well as in some of my sculptures as in these disks.
For some reason I have an attraction to round and circular forms. I have used circle formats in my mosaic designs and in my drawings, as well as in some of my sculptures as in these disks.
Two relief disks formed by shaping metal foil.
Relief disk formed in black foil and backed with plaster. c.11" diameter (2 views)
Relief disk formed in foil and cast in plaster then foil removed. 12" diameter
Shown in white plaster and in silvered version. (2 views of each version)
Shown in white plaster and in silvered version. (2 views of each version)
For this series of foil reliefs I shaped a heavy black aluminum foil by hand, but kept the overall shape to a circle or disk, and instead of forming a face or mask I played with random folds and creases within that rough circumference. In some way they suggest topography, though that was not my impetus for the shapes.
These pieces could be set on a rotatable wall mount to be seen in different orientations, or may be displayed on a horizontal surface and viewed from above, in an “aerial” view.
These pieces could be set on a rotatable wall mount to be seen in different orientations, or may be displayed on a horizontal surface and viewed from above, in an “aerial” view.
STANDING RELIEFS
Forms shaped with foil and paper and cast in plaster.
These relief designs could stand on their own rather than be hung on a wall.
These relief designs could stand on their own rather than be hung on a wall.