Students chose one of the following sculptures to sketch at our next stop. What do you see or recognize in these sculptures?
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For these artworks, Barry X Ball looked at sculptures by the artist Medardo Rosso. Rosso made Sick Child, the sculpture in the image below on the left, between 1893-1895. To create his own version, Ball first scanned Rosso's Sick Child. He used these scans to create a 3D digital model of Sick Child on his computer. Then he made changes to the 3D digital model. How are Barry X Ball's sculpture (below on the right) and Medardo Rosso's sculpture different?
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Left: Medardo Rosso, Enfant malade (Sick Child), 1893-95, Galleria D'Arte Moderna, Milano
Right: Barry X Ball, Sick Child, 2013-19 |
Ball usually creates a mirror image so that it is the opposite of the original sculpture. He also makes changes so the subject might look more detailed or more abstract. Then he uses a machine that carves a solid block of stone to look like the digital model. Afterward, he and his assistants carve and polish the stone by hand to complete the sculpture.
Medardo Rosso made many of his sculptures out of wax. Wax is used during one of the steps in creating a bronze sculpture, but Rosso decided to treat his wax versions as the final artworks. He liked how wax looks translucent, as though light can pass through it (think of a candle, especially when it's lit). Ball also uses stone that plays with light and can also appear translucent. Below is a wax sculpture by Rosso on the left, next to Ball's version on the right.
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Left: Medardo Rosso, La Portinaia, 1883–84, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Milano
Right: Barry X Ball, Doorwoman, 2013-19 |
Ball carefully chooses the stone for his sculptures. Many stone sculptures are carved from white marble. Ball likes using stone with different colors and patterns. How might his sculptures look different if he had chosen a more traditional white marble?
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