Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuși pioneered the practice of direct carving. The SOP of the time – the early 1900s – was to use clay models and plaster molds to create pre-determined forms that, when finished, seemed to transform their original materials into something else entirely. Marble became smooth skin or draping silk, for example. In contrast, Brâncuși applied his tools directly to his chosen materials: typically wood, stone or bronze. He believed it was a sculptor’s responsibility to respect and reveal the intrinsic properties of the media, such as veins in stone or grain and burls in wood, and to let those characteristics shape and be highlighted in the finished piece. He felt the form of a piece should come from within the material itself. In his words, “Matter must continue its natural life when modified by the hand of the sculptor.” He called this ethic “truth to materials.”
Truth to Place
Truth to Place
Truth to Place
Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuși pioneered the practice of direct carving. The SOP of the time – the early 1900s – was to use clay models and plaster molds to create pre-determined forms that, when finished, seemed to transform their original materials into something else entirely. Marble became smooth skin or draping silk, for example. In contrast, Brâncuși applied his tools directly to his chosen materials: typically wood, stone or bronze. He believed it was a sculptor’s responsibility to respect and reveal the intrinsic properties of the media, such as veins in stone or grain and burls in wood, and to let those characteristics shape and be highlighted in the finished piece. He felt the form of a piece should come from within the material itself. In his words, “Matter must continue its natural life when modified by the hand of the sculptor.” He called this ethic “truth to materials.”