Carve a Free-Form Sculpture

Around the middle of the last century, sculpture began to evolve or change into what we know today as modern sculpture. Artists began working with new materials and "invading" solid forms with voids or holes. Henry Moore, one of the most famous sculptors of the 20th century, was a pioneer in stressing the importance of negative space. Strongly influenced by his environment, he was fascinated by the caves which occurred in the hillsides and cliffs of his native England. To Moore, a hole or negative space was as important as solid form, and he often used hollow cavities in his work.

Another distinguishing characteristic of modern sculpture is the artist's choice of subject matter. Before the mid-1800's, sculpture was created to represent people such as religious figures or royalty. Sometimes artists would model or carve the likenesses of animals. While modern sculpture can be representational, the subject is just as likely to be abstract. Much of Henry Moore's work falls into this category. Two of the artist's sculptures are located in Columbus, Indiana. One of them, Large Arch, stands in front of our public library, and it has served as the focal point of the library plaza since 1971.

Large Arch and other sculptures which are created to complement buildings or architecture are called "monumental sculptures." Before a sculptor invests money for materials or spends the time necessary to make such a large work, he or she makes a smaller sculpture to use as a model. This preliminary study for the full-scale sculpture is called a maquette (pronounced ma-KET). 

 Working in the style of Henry Moore, we'll carve a small, free-form sculpture. Maybe someday your maquette will serve as the model for a monumental sculpture!

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