Sculpture

Sculpture begins in the Stone Age. Exactly when, we don't know. The earliest known examples are the two primitive stone effigies known as The Venus of Berekhat Ram and The Venus of Tan-Tan. The Venus of Berekhat Ram (dating from c.230,000 BCE or earlier) is a basaltic figurine made during the Acheulian Period, which was discovered on the Golan Heights. The Venus of Tan-Tan (c.200,000 BCE or earlier) is a quartzite figurine from the same period.

If these objects are pre-sculptural forms, the earliest prehistoric sculptureproper emerged around 35,000 BCE in the form of carvings of animals, birds, and therianthropic figures, made during the Lower Perigordian/Aurignacian Period and discovered in the caves of Vogelherd, Hohle Fels, and Hohlenstein-Stadel, in the Swabian Jura, Germany. The earliest figurative sculpture is theivory carving known as the Venus of Hohle Fels (c.35,000 BCE).

From its beginnings until the present, sculpture has been largely monumental. In the 15th century, monuments to biblical heroes were built on the streets of Italian cities, and in the 20th century a monument to a songwriter was built in the heart of New York City. Great fountains with sculpture in the center are as commonplace beside modern skyscrapers as they were in the courts of old palaces. The ancient Sumerians celebrated military victory with sculpture. The participants of World War II also used sculpture to honor their soldiers.

Mesolithic Sculpture (c.10,000-4,000 BCE)

Mesolithic sculpture saw more bas-reliefs and free standing sculpture such as the anthropomorphic figurines unearthed in Nevali Cori and Gobekli Tepe near Urfa in eastern Turkey, and the statues of Lepenski Vir (eg. The Fish God) in Serbia. Arguably the greatest Mesolithic work of art is the terracotta sculpture from Romania, known as The Thinker of Cernavoda, an unmistakable image of cognitive thought.

Neolithic Sculpture (c.4,000-2,000 BCE)

Neolithic art is noted above all for its pottery, but it also featured free standing sculpture and bronze statuettes - in particular from the Indus Valley Civilization, the North Caucasus and pre-Columbian art in the Americas. The most spectacular form of Neolithic art was Egyptian pyramid architecture whose burial chambers led to an increased demand for various types of reliefs as well as portable statues and statuettes.

World's Greatest Clay Sculpture

The Terracotta Army (dating to 246-208 BCE), a huge collection of clay warriors and horses, was sculpted in Shaanxi province, China, under the orders of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi. Thousands of figures remain buried at the site. See also Chinese Buddhist Sculpture (c.100-present).

Architectural Sculpture

Although outside the scope of this article, mention should be made of great iconic works of architectural sculpture, including: The Colossus of Rhodes, The Statue of Liberty, The Eiffel Tower, Nelson's Column, The Chicago Picasso, and The Dublin Spike, among others.

Susumu Ikegami

1957 Born in Kanazawa

1982 Kanazawa College of Arts

1985 Solo Exhibition (Kyoto)

1986 Eight times Chunichi Tokai Radio Award (Kanazawa)

26 times Hokuriku Chunichi Award - Great Prize (Kanazawa)

1989 Roko Airand Sculpture Exhibition (Kobe)

1990 Odawara Castle Sculptor (Kanagawa)

1991 Seven times Henri Moore Exhibition (Nagano)

Handa City Sculpture

1992 Two times Kajima Sculpture Competition (Tokyo)

Koufu City Sculpture Exhibition (Nagano)

1993 Shonan Hiratuka Sculpture Exhibition (Kanagawa)

Chunichi Exhibition

1994 Festival of Stone (Kagawa)

1995 An Appeal for Public Subscription in Nou (Nigata)

Solo Exhibition

1996 Kobe Art Village Artist Camp Participation (Kobe)

Sculpture for a World Cultural Inheritance - Suganuma Gasho Village Monument (Toyama)

Estonia International Stone Sculptural Festival (TALLINN)

Solo Exhibition (Tokyo)

1997 Hualien International Stone Sculptural Festival (TAIWAN)

-International Impact Art Festival (Kyoto)

Nanao International Stone Sculptural Festival (Ishikawa)

Solo Exhibition (Tokyo) (Kanazawa)

1998 Kanazawa Industrial Senior High School

-Solo Exhibition (Kanazawa)

-Beeld Houwous Symposium

-Select Exhibition ('98)

-Hamamatsu City Takaoka Town (Shizuoka)

SUN GATE,Red And White Granite,24" tall,24" long,4" wide.

SPACE GATE,Marble,20" tall,28" long,8" wide.

SUPER STRING STONE,Granite,16" tall,20" long,20" wide.

John Coleman

John Colemanohn Coleman (b. 1949) was born in Southern California and began his early art studies at the Art Center for Design in Los Angeles. Sculpting full time since 1994, John was voted into professional membership of The National Sculpture Society of New York in 1999.

His recent studies include work with Stanley Bleifeld, Grant Speed, Lincoln Fox, Sandy Scott, John Aaro and Quang Ho at the Scottsdale Artist School and John Zahourek in Colorado for anatomy. John instructed the 1998 fall semester class of sculpture at Yavapai College, Prescott, Arizona.

John was brought into the Cowboy Artist of America in October, 2001, and has been a professional member of the National Sculpture Society since 1999. He usually has six or seven works-in-progress at any one time and will introduce four to five new editions each year for his collector market.

HONEYMOON at CROW FAIR,27" H x 8.5" W x 19" D,Bronze, Edition of 20.

1804, THE NEWCOMERS,37" H x 24" W x 15" D,Bronze, Edition of 20.

RIDIN’ for the LEAD,23" H x 13" W x 16" D,Bronze, Edition of 20.

Daniel Lai Kenjio

Daniel Lai, of Chinese descent, was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He moved to the U.S. in 2000. He has a BA in Linguistics (2003) and an MA in Art Studies/Art History (2006) from Montclair State University. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in criminology. When he is taking a break from his studies, he makes art.

Lai's work has also been published in numerous books and magazines. His work has earned awards nationally and internationally.

THINKER UNDER TREE ON CLAYBORD,Clay And Old Book Cut And Folded,

12" wide,7" deep,12" tall.

SLEEPER ON ARCH,Clay And Old Book Cut And Folded,

16" wide,7" deep,12" tall.

CLAMP ON CLAYBORD,Clay And A Book Cut In Half And Folded Pages,

12" wide,9" deep,12"tall.

Sculpture Process

The above picture I made reference to start my sculpture.

Then, I do the sketches and then I choose the best for my sculpture.

For my sculptures, I use clay to create my sculptures.

After completion form, I made barriers to two parts and divider around clay.

Then, I rub the whole surface with soap clay, so the clay does not stick and plaster.

To make a mold, I'm mixing plaster with water in specific quantities and apply on the entire surface of clay that has been applied to the last soap (make sure the entire surface of the plaster exposed on clay) when the plaster has hardened, I removed the plaster of clay slowly, and this is the result. (do the same way in the next turn).

After completion of the two parts of the mold, to casting, I use soap on the first attempt, but fail, mold and sculpture sticking and breaking. (Soap may not hit the entire surface of the mold).

Then, I use the kiwi on the second attempt, by the way, spread throughout the mold with kiwi and binding on both firmly with the rubber mold and pour it into the mold plaster.