Further exploration - Why be a Sculptor?

So why be a Sculptor?

In my first blog I was exploring the possibilities that working in three-dimensions allows for reflecting our nature as creatures that exist within space. Now I will talk a little about the usefulness of that, and head towards addressing my original question - Why be a sculptor?

Choosing a Medium of Exploration

We apprehend our world and make sense of it through processing our inner experience. We contact the world through external means, but we have to navigate our internal landscape to make sense of what is going on for us in order to move forward. What we feel is very subtle, and over-arching words usually don’t really cover it - it is generally much more nuanced than “sad,” or “angry,” for example. Poetry would probably be more accurate than prose, but the medium that works best for me is sculpture, just because my mind happens to works in that way.

Accuracy of Expression

Whatever the medium, there often seems to be an inverse relationship between the literal nature of the communication and its resonance. What I mean is that I find it much more accurate to express the subtleties of an internal experience by using a seemingly obscure presentation, than to be more obvious about it. Making a very literal representation of someone who is sad or angry, for example, inevitably seems to present a more shallow reflection. As the nature of existence is layered and multi-faceted, it turns out, semi-surprisingly, that there is much more clarity and accuracy available by being slightly more oblique. The unexpected turns out to be more direct, as metaphor can help us by representing something that we are struggling to comprehend and integrate.

Why is Sculpture Useful?

Sculpture is useful because I can use representations of us existing as objects within space and within relationship in order to reflect the way that emotion plays inside us. Thoughts and feelings arising from our making sense of our internal world wash through our internal space in the same manner that they do when we are affected by our proximity to other physical objects existing within space, such as a cliff edge or a high wall. I can use the relationship between the characters in my sculptures to evoke pervading internal experiences, as metaphor, and I can gain clarity for myself and for the viewer in that way.

In Summary

So why be a sculptor? The world is complex, my existence within it is complex, and my understanding of my existence within it is even more complex - and I could do with some help with it. Something about the nature of applying myself to making things helps me to resolve fundamental internal disquiets, and it seems to help other people as well; not just people who make things themselves in whatever form, but also the audience.

There is more to consider in that closing proposition, and so I will return to it in the next-but-one blog.