Sculptures by medium

Carré d'artistes presents a large selection of various sculptural techniques. To create a sculptural work, artists consider multiple sculptural techniques and sometimes have fun combining several. Among them, there is carving, assembly, modelling, the use of resin, bronze, metal, raku, stone or even diverted objects.
Techniques of sculpture

Sculpture is an artistic process that presupposes the creation of forms in volume or in relief. Throughout the centuries, we have discovered forms in the round, in bas-relief, in high-relief, by modelling, by direct carving, or by welding or assembly.
 

Modelling is the most instinctive and primitive technical process. The shaping of the clay (stoneware, porcelain or earthenware) evolves through contact with the fingers. It is an ancestral technique. Today, many contemporary artists choose for their creations unusual materials or diverted objects: sheet metal, metal, plastic, plants... With modelling, the sculptor adds or removes material to achieve the volumes of what he wishes to represent. The modelling technique is possible with "plastic" materials, or in other words materials that have the capacity to be deformed in a reversible way under the effect of the touch, such as clay, wax, resin, plaster... At any moment the artist can start again or rectify the shot thanks to the flexibility of the material used.
 

The principle of carving is to subtract matter. The artist hits the material with a tool. As the pieces are broken off, the shape comes to life. There are two basic techniques for giving shape to stone or wood. The first is direct cutting. This is done without any prior sketch and takes into account the original shape of the block. It is the material that inspires the sculptor to find the final shape.
The second is, on the contrary, a carving with adjustments, which remains faithful and as close as possible to what the sculptor wishes to reproduce from reality.
 

The process of assembly presupposes a grouping of different elements or objects. The sculptor can use mortise, tenon, bolt, rivet, screw, glue, solder to achieve his or her ends. The assembled elements are not necessarily made of the same material. The contemporary artist can also use recycled, manufactured, natural, new or old objects...
Sculptures and materials
Sculpture techniques vary according to the material chosen to create a work.
 

The artists Floh and Pappay work with resin to form and deform imaginary representations of reality in vivid colours. Polyester resin is popular in the art world as it is adaptable to many situations and is becoming one of the most popular sculpting techniques. Duane Hanson is a hyper-realistic sculptor who has made his extremely precise resin casts directly on his models.
 

Aude Silve, Liselotte Andersen, Liliane Danino sculpt by opting for bronze sculpting techniques by reinterpreting the image of the body in all its forms.
Metal sculpture
Frédéric Fortuné and Pablo Macias use metal to create portraits in relief or characters made of assembled pieces.
 

The potters explore the sculpture techniques of raku to the infinite possibilities. This process allows techniques such as salt glazing or pit firing to reach their full potential through the firing process.
Stone Sculpture

Artists who choose to work in stone must decide whether they want to start from the origin of the form to create an object or whether they want to remove material to arrive at their original idea. With stone it is impossible to go back, each stroke of the tool is irreversible which adds to the poetry of the work.
 

Tinguely, César, and a large number of contemporary collectives have taken a close interest in abandoned objects to give them new life by assembling them together in unexpected situations. It is one of the sculpture techniques that has grown the most thanks to street-art. At Carré d'artistes, discover a range of sculpture techniques proposed by contemporary artists: Floh, Daniel Castan, Pappay, Aude Silve, Liselotte Andersen, Liliane Danino, Frédéric Fortuné or Pablo Macias...