ASSIGNMENT 2: Subtractive Process: Distilling Form

John Leon

This assignment is an exercise in distilling and capturing the essence of an organic form/object. The project will begin by choosing a wood fragment and sketching a design of what you hope to achieve by carving. You will also draw on the wood itself marking roughly where material will be cut away/subtracted. Then using a combination of hand tools; chisels and knives, files and rasps, and machine tools; band saw, sanders, grinders and drill, material will be carved away to reveal new form.

Remember to develop the sculptural form from all sides, step by step. Do not try to “finish” one side first and then another. You must have at least one hole in the final sculptural form. Once removed, material may not be later added back. However, you may choose to create multiple individual pieces which may create a grouping.

In this assignment, you are not trying to create a “thing” like a person, animal, etc. Instead you are trying to create organic form. This is an abstract quality that we observe about the way things grow. It is not geometric or mechanical in nature. For example, look closely at roots of plants or trees,  at the sculptural form of bones. You are not necessarily trying to create a bone, but you are trying to create a sculpture that twists, turns or “behaves” as a bone might.

In the final step, you will be continuing the subtractive/reductive method to carve fine details or texture as is applicable to your design. After carving, you will further develop the visual content of your sculpture by sanding and smoothing the exterior. Finally, the wood may be painted, oiled, waxed or otherwise sealed as a finishing step.

DeBoer, 2020

REQUIREMENTS:

• Size: no smaller than the average water bottle
• Surrounding space: Must have at least one hole
• Visually Dynamic from all sides: no “front” and incorporates a “twist”
• Non-representational: not figurative or literal imitation of a person, animal or thing
• Form: Organic not geometric
• Material: Wood

Mike Sasaki

Mike Sasaki

Thomas B. Lewis,

ModandOzzie,

Peter Johnson, Monkey Pod

Mike Sasaki

LUTZ HORNISCHER, Reclaimed old-growth Redwood

Bruce Mitchell, Redwood

Mike Sasaki

Mike Sasaki, Western Red Cedar

Badri Goguadze, Nutwood

Walnut

Liliya Pobornikova, Elondo wood and covered with wax

Bruce Mitchell, Redwood burl

E. Robson, Oak

Steve Turnbull, Walnut

Mike Sasaki

Milan Maksymov,

Some Major Artists working in this manner:

• Barbara Hepworth—Biomorphic Forms and Hollows 

Biog 25

• Henry Moore—Reclining Figures

• Constantine Brancusi—Bird in Space

• Isamu Noguchi—Bird B

Students, Class 2020