In my Sculpture II class we were assigned three main assignments that we were to work on all semester. Altogether we would have three sculptural pieces.
- Global/Humanitarian Piece: This piece should reflect a global issue in which the piece would be your interpretation of this issue or trend in society.
- Installation: This piece should be installed and documented in an environment wherever it seems fit.
- Mastery Piece: This piece should should be made in emphasis of a certain medium of your choice that shows mastery in this given medium.
For my Mastery Piece specifically I chose to work with clay. I have always enjoyed working with clay and wanted to work with it as much as I could so when given the option I chose this medium. My interpretation for this assignment dealt with my own definition of mastery. For myself, I chose to view mastery as being able to work with a material in such a way that it can be successfully executed in a nontraditional sense of its usual use and subject matter. Clay in the traditional sense is used to create pottery and concrete sculptural objects. I chose to transform clay into a liquid state. Although clay is usually molded using large amounts of water, ironically, I chose to sculpt the clay into the the fluid liquid that contrasts with clay’s usual heavy state.
I created the piece upside down for most of the sculpting process and then flopped the piece once the clay was hardened. This allowed for the clay to posses the movement I desired to capture the fluidity of water. Even the subject matter of it being a brief moment in time challenged a clay object’s traditional permanence and concrete being. I also added objects to the display of the sculpture to signify the idea of splashing water even more. I displayed the sculpture on a mirror to amplify the movement and also display reflection on a body of water’s surface. I also placed pennies inside the splashes to show the cause of the splash with the universal custom of throwing pennies into water whether to rid themselves of the notorious useless change or to make a wish.
Overall I am happy with the execution of this piece and enjoyed molding clay into something that I have never molded clay into before. I enjoyed playing with the ideal of the use of clay. And I enjoyed seeing the moment a wish hits the top surface of something before it comes true.
