You may have heard that my book, Twisted, is a unique collection of dark tales. But it is a little known fact that it also includes a little surprise for the reader: hidden between these pages is my poem Dust, which can be seen as a dance duet between two characters, a man and a woman. The poem starts with him, saying:
From dust you gather me
I beg you on my knee
Look away—imagine me
The way I used to be
Now shadows spread upon me
Stain by stain
I shiver. Touch me, heal me
Make me whole again
And it ends with her, saying:
I will not let you blur
These traces in my mind
Of the way we were
Our limbs entwined
I miss you, still resist you,
Forgive me, for I must
Gather you so gently
From the dust.
Writing this poem has inspired me to sculpt a pose for each verse. You can read the poem, view the sculptures, and even turn each one around, by going here.
Now, many of you have asked me, How do you do that, how do you create your pieces, and cast them in bronze? So this time, I am going to give you a peek into my studio, at the moment the two dancers came alive. To imagine the finished piece, just remove the metal armature which holds them up while they are soft, remove the temporary clay support holding her foot, and remove the wires connecting the two figures to the armature, and then--yes! Then you can see how these dancers take flight!
"So immaculately constructed that each work becomes a little treasure to visit repeatedly"
Love the dancers
ReplyDeleteOh thank you Judy!
DeleteI took a class back in the early 1970s, and we used wax to create out sculpture and then cast the wax in a mold that we poured the molten bronze into that would melt the wax away. I was a novice.
ReplyDeleteYour work is incredibly detailed.
Oh yes, this sculpture is then cast in wax and then in bronze, just the way you described! But first I create the clay model. Thank you so much for your comments!
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