Artist Statement
Extending the Renaissancesque human figure through the addition of abstract forms has long been a passion of mine. Unlike most contemporary sculptors and draftsmen however, I prefer to present the figure in a non-truncated and undistorted manner and fuse abstraction to it.
Because of its lightness my chosen sculpture medium of polystyrene allows me to display sculptures in many unique ways, some of which almost seem to defy gravity. Attached only to the wall at a diameter of just 6 inches, some of my sculptures go into space as much as 9 1/2 feet, like my piece, “Faun”. Others hang from the ceiling on a single nylon line and rotate subtly, a la my, “Anti-caryatid” series. While still others start as paintings that flow seamlessly into sculptures which extend many feet into space – “Joie de Vivre” and “Coalescence”. And a few tilt at seemingly impossible angles to their bases as in, “FuturEvo 1 and Dies Irae”.
In my most recent exhibition, “The Shape of Things to Come”, I featured the forms of new technologies: genetic engineering, nano technology, human/computer interface and machine/human fusion (cyborgs). Some pieces incorporate nanobot shapes smoothly merged with the human figure as in, “Nanobot”. Others integrate the primordial ooze, from which all life came, with forms related to amino acids and DNA all fused seamlessly with the human figure which then evolves into a cyborg -- “FuturEvo 1”. These new technologies will “extend” human beings in ways we cannot imagine.
Richard Claraval
2022