June 18 - July 3, 2012, recent Academy graduate Joseph Brickey (MFA 2012) lived and worked in Carrara, Italy as part of a two-week Artist in Residence Program coordinated by ABC Stone and The Oriano Galloni Foundation.
By way of
introduction, I've always felt I could do anything an artist aught to be able
to do. Can I draw? Sure. Give me a
pencil, and I can move it in any direction. What about paint? Oh, you mean that
soft, creamy stuff that comes in nice little tubes? Sure. I even know where to
get special brushes so you can rub it around without getting any on your
fingers. Can I sculpt? Well, I grew up playing in the mud. That's a material I
understand.
But what
about stone carving, you ask? What?? Did you say stone?? You mean that material
that shooting stars are made of, that sinks ships, divides the oceans, forms
mountains, turns aside rivers, crushes whatever stands between it and the
center of the earth? This is the
material upon which all the world stands for support. A wise man might build
upon it, but what fool would try to carve it?
Even Mother Nature herself only carves by the minuscule per millennium.
That's
right, I know about stone. I've had my own experiences with it. I've climbed
it, kicked it, smacked it, and stubbed my toes on it. Throughout my entire
life, anytime I've come up against stone, it always wins. It's just instinctive
now: when we cross paths, stone always has the right of way. It's simple, really.
I'm made from the dust, the stuff smashed between the rocks, the stuff that is
washed away by the wind and the rain, while the stone, well, it isn't.
So if you
ask me about stone carving, I'm thinking you must mean the stone doing the
carving on me. What then? Into a stone
box I go, unto the dust I return, six feet under a stone marker that warns the
world: "This man thought stone carving was a good idea."
So that's
where I'm coming from. At least until the opportunity came to go to Carrara.
Hence it
shouldn't seem so strange that stone carving--most certainly humanity's first
dip into the arts--feels to me more like my final frontier as an artist. But unwittingly my creative impulse had always
been carrying me closer. All along it was a natural fit for my artistic
identity, the eventuality of all of my efforts and interests. But aspiration
cannot live without expectation, and marble carving was on the same list as
cloud surfing and comet riding.
I had
thought that turning to sculpture a couple of years ago completed my ambitions.
I had used drawing materials, painting materials, and now sculpting materials. But
marble was an entirely different thing. In the court of the great masters, I
had tried out every seat in the house, but I had never considered actually
taking the throne. Not that I don't think big. I'm a guy who has considered
planting a garden on Mount Everest, camping on the dark side of the moon, crab
walking to the edge of the earth, and then rappelling down. But carving a marble
sculpture?! It seemed so far fetched, so foreign, so unfathomable, that even to
man prone to ambition, it remained the impossible dream.
Then came
the generosity of Jonathon Tibett of ABC Stone, the groundwork of SteveShaheen (MFA 2005), and the great resource that is the New York Academy of Art. When the
news came that I had received the marble carving residency, I was suddenly cloud
hugging and comet kissing. Mount Everest could melt, the edge of the earth
could go drop off itself---I was going to Carrara!!!
Part of
my preparation was to decide on a subject and create a model to work from while
there. I felt I should do something that would test me with the technique,
something with nuance and detail, subtle shifts in form, demanding precise proportion
and surface treatment. In short, something that would be a good test for future
carving possibilities, for I felt that if the honeymoon went well, so would the
marriage.
Michelangelo’s Maquette |
There was
no doubt that I wanted to do something figurative, but with forms conceived for
the material of stone. This was new for me and my mind immediately sought
answers from the great Michelangelo. I looked not only to his final sculptures
but also to those sketches and preliminary works that demonstrated earlier
conceptual phases. Among his surviving
works that were preparatory for his marble sculptures is a terra cotta maquette
of a male torso done for his Awakening Slave.
Pen & Ink of Male Torso |
Toned Drawing of Male Torso |
This
point of reference seemed to fit my native impulse, and as I began to work out
my own interpretation, I felt a sort of dialogue develop, consulting the great
master at every turn (and occasionally bickering with his counsel). It became a
process where I either had to justify my own path or come to understand the
reason for his. In the end, whether my model was a tribute or an insult to his
wisdom, I’d made my case and was ready
to stand by it.
Model of Male Torso |
Now I
simply had to go to Italy to make the same argument to some block of marble… and I was unbelievably excited!!!
Check back here for more of Joseph's reflections on his residency and first experience working with stone.
Great little article. I laughed out loud at the line; "This man thought stone carving was a good idea."
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